


Bee-nevolent

by TwinklingCupcake



Series: Honeycomb AU [3]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bee Miraculous, BeeSabrina, Bullying, Canon-Typical Violence, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gaslighting, Gen, Toxic Friendships, Verbal Abuse, being a hero isn't the only difficult thing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-07
Updated: 2016-12-14
Packaged: 2018-07-12 20:03:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 55,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7120507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwinklingCupcake/pseuds/TwinklingCupcake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She never thought she'd be much of anything, especially not a "Miraculous Holder." Despite her doubts, though, she can't help but grasp the chance to be happier, freer. If only any of it - being free, happy, having new friends - were actually easy...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Story of a Girl

When Sabrina was five, she thought her dad was a superhero.

What else could he be? He wore a special suit when he went out to get the bad guys, he found bad people and put them in jail, he protected the good people... Sure, not everything he did was huge or dramatic – like when he was called to fill in for the crossing guard who helped kids get to school, or when all he had to do was make parking tickets, or help that lost boy in the park find his mom. But even Superman did small things too.

At night, after he'd pay the babysitter and start on dinner, he'd tell Sabrina about something or other he did that day. Whether it was dramatic and scary, or simple and safe, Sabrina would listen with a wide-eyed look of amazement.

So when she started a new school year, and everyone was required to say something about themselves in their introduction, Sabrina proudly stood up in her tiny little shoes and declared her father was a superhero.

"No, he's not."

A little blonde girl sitting next to Sabrina had spoken up, frowning at her. Before either the teacher or Sabrina could reply, she said simply "You're a liar."

Sabrina had protested, over the teacher's attempts to regain order, that her dad _was_ a superhero, he had a special outfit and fought bad guys and everything, but the other girl repeated herself. "He's just a policeman, he's not a superhero. You're making it up."

And that was that.

Sabrina ate her cookies by herself that snack hour, her face still burning. She hadn't tried to talk to the other kids yet, but she knew well enough that nobody liked a liar. Even if she hadn't meant to lie.

But the blonde girl came over to her table anyway, with a smile and an "I forgive you." It wasn't her fault, the girl said, that she didn't know what her dad really did for a living. Sabrina asked what _her_ dad did.

Blonde girl – Chloé's – dad was a politician. Sabrina had no idea what the grown-up word meant, but Chloé said it as if it were something really important, so Sabrina was appropriately amazed.

Chloé told her about her huge house, with the people who did everything for her, and the huge car that someone else drove for her dad, and the huge tv and pool, and everything Sabrina's house didn't have. Sabrina asked if she could see.

Chloé agreed, but only on the condition that Sabrina not touch anything without her permission. "Daddy says it's all real expensive," she explained. "So regular people can't touch anything."

Sabrina had gone to Chloé's big house the next day after school. It felt like being in a castle, and she wanted to run down the halls and jump in the pool and play with the big fancy toys, but she'd promised not to touch anything.

So she didn't.

But she'd had fun with Chloé! At least, she thought she'd had fun. There'd been snacks and a TV (Chloé chose the shows) and a fancy doll (that Chloé said was too expensive for Sabrina to touch, so she'd just have to watch Chloé play with it), and at the end of the day, she'd been invited to come again.

She'd hesitated at first – maybe she already knew it hadn't been _really_ fun after all, but Chloé had just smiled and said "Don't worry, Sabrina! I'll be your friend, even if no one else is!"

And Sabrina remembered she was a liar and how no one liked liars.

 

* * *

 

When Sabrina was six, she thought Chloé was a princess.

She said as much once, and instead of disputing it, Chloé smiled and agreed.

Her dad wasn't a superhero, but Chloé was surely a princess. Who else could have such a huge house, and all these people waiting on her? Who else could afford a three TVs bigger than Sabrina herself was? Who else but a princess would get a _real_ diamond necklace for her birthday?

Sabrina asked to touch the necklace too. Chloé had scowled darkly, slapped her hand away, and yelled no. Then as Sabrina's eyes threatened to water, Chloé added that Sabrina was _way_ too poor to touch diamonds.

Sabrina wasn't poor. Her dad had enough money to keep her fed, and keep a house, and give her new clothes at the beginning of every school year. Even if her dad wasn't a superhero, he wasn't poor!

...but then again, Chloé had all sorts of things that Sabrina didn't. And she'd been right about her dad not being a superhero after all...So maybe she was right about this.

As she grew older, she began to think that Chloé was right about a lot of things, really.

 

* * *

 

She was eight when her vision started to get kind of fuzzy, and when she'd told her dad, he'd gotten her to a doctor and she received her first glasses. Sabrina was thrilled – they looked like Clark Kent's glasses, and he was a superhero! She was like Clark Kent now!

She'd shown Chloé at school first thing the next day. Chloé had laughed loudly, then apologized and said that the glasses looked too big for Sabrina's face and made her eyes look like they were popping out. But if it was the _only_ way Sabrina could see, they'd both just have to live with it, she'd added.

Sabrina sat next to her best friend with her hand up to cover her face, hoping to hide her ugly glasses from view.

 

* * *

 

They went shopping without an adult for the first time at age eleven. Sabrina looked in awe at a huge boutique that sold the cutest clothes she'd ever seen. She was about to go in when Chloé's voice rang out from behind her.

"Are you _sure_ those would suit you?" she asked.

Sabrina halted.

"I mean, Sabrina...Look, you're my BFF so I'll be honest with you. Those clothes? Would look _really_ weird on you. I mean, look at the colors!" They were nice colors, Sabrina thought. "They would fit me more than they'd fit you! And ruffles are totally not your thing, either. Not to mention your glasses would kinda ruin the look of any of the outfits you put together..."

Chloé was right, Sabrina told herself. The clothes looked cute on the hangers and on the mannequins, but they wouldn't look good on her at all.

The final nail in the coffin was when Chloé added "I don't think you can afford those anyway. You should check the bargain stores."

"Will you come with me?"

"Ew, no! I can't be caught dead in those places!"

Sabrina hadn't been able to buy anything, but that was okay. It meant her arms were free to hold the things Chloé had bought.

 

* * *

 

When they were twelve, Chloé called her house one night, saying that she had been too busy to do her math homework, and could Sabrina do it for her? Sabrina wasn't sure – that was cheating, wasn't it? But Chloé had sobbed and cried and said if she didn't get good grades her father would ground her _forever_ and she thought Sabrina was her friend!

Sabrina felt so awful that she agreed to help her – just this once, okay? So she took her own homework, tore a fresh sheet from her notebook, and copied it down, being sure to change the notes and "show your work" parts a little to throw the teacher off-track.

She'd been a bit pleased with herself the next day, handing Chloé the paper. She wasn't a superhero, but she did something good, she helped her friend! Chloé didn't thank Sabrina for her efforts, but it was fine, she was probably just too relieved to.

Besides, Sabrina learned a long time ago that pleases and thank you's weren't part of Chloé's daily vocabulary.

Any pleased feelings vanished when they got their papers back and Chloé saw an 85 at the top of the page. She'd cornered Sabrina in the girls' bathroom, shoving the number in her face and demanding to know what Sabrina was "trying to pull."

Sabrina learned, that day, that Chloé expected _perfect_ grades.

And she was _often_ too busy to do her own schoolwork... So Sabrina would have to study harder for both of them.

Her dad was thrilled with the straight A's she brought home, but for Sabrina it was very bittersweet.

 

* * *

 

It was tiring being Chloé's best friend sometimes.

It meant Sabrina had to watch what she said and how she said it, and eventually not speak up much at all. It meant she did what Chloé wanted to do, and never what she herself wanted. It meant seeing a cute outfit in a storefront window, wistfully commenting on having something like that someday, and then being told "Ew, on _you?"_

It meant having to stay silent and just accept it when Chloé pushed her aside in favor of talking to the Agreste boy. And then it meant immediately going to console her (despite being slapped away and snapped at in the next second) when he couldn't stay.

It meant being grateful for the expensive brooch – not _just_ because it was a gift from a best friend, but also because it was the one thing that could _possibly_ make her pretty. "Well, not pretty," Chloé had said as Sabrina pinned it to her vest. "But it's a bit of an improvement." It was the closest thing to a compliment Sabrina had ever gotten.

Of course, it meant not being able to show _just_ how upset she was when her father got fired. It meant having to swallow her pride and saying that yes, of course she was still Chloé's BFF and they still had a shopping date later!

But it was worth it, Sabrina told herself. It was worth it to keep her only friend around.

Over the years, Sabrina had learned that no one else would have even wanted to be her friend – only Chloé, out of the kindness of her heart, would ever interact with such a poor, homely girl like herself, especially one who had lied on her first day _ever_ of school. It was only through Chloé that Sabrina would ever get a taste of a good life, it was only because of Chloé that Sabrina ever got to see _the_ Adrien Agreste in the flesh at all.

She'd come home with two sets of homework to do, a lump in her throat from all the words and emotions she'd had to swallow, a few bruises on her arm from where she'd be shoved or gripped too tightly, but it was worth it. It was worth it, she repeated as she did both of their homework.

Because Chloé was her BFF, and the _only_ friend she was _ever_ going to have.

And Sabrina had to be grateful, because she was never going to be anything other than what she was now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> gif/cover is by mardimari on tumblr! http://mardimari.tumblr.com/post/153717889839


	2. Imperfect Girl

The morning had _not_ gone in Sabrina's favor.

For starters, even though she had set her alarm as she always did, she woke up half an hour later than she should have. And then she saw that the time was way off, and the numbers were blinking.

Checking the news app on her phone twenty minutes later – during her mad dash to meet up with Chloé – revealed that there had been some problem or other with the power lines, so several residential areas had lost power for about two hours.

And unfortunately, since it had nothing to do with an Akuma attack, and she had _checked,_ it meant Ladybug's power wasn't needed or able to fix anyone's clocks.

For a minute she dared hope that perhaps Chloé was as late as she was, but no such luck. Chloé met her with her arms folded and a scowl on her face. She looked Sabrina up and down in a mere half-second before quirking an eyebrow.

"Trying out a new look?" she said, smiling a little.

Sabrina lifted a hand to her hair, still messy from sleeping. "I didn't have time to brush it!" she cried, hoping her BFF would show a little sympathy. "The power outage took out my alarm, so I only had time to grab my things, get dressed, and run out here!" She ran her fingers through her hair in attempts to put it in some order. "Does it really look bad?"

"Mmm, not a _complete_ rat's nest. But you'll have to go through the whole day looking like that, there's just no time to brush it." Chloé grinned again, patting Sabrina's arm. "Don't worry, since you'll be with me, no one will say anything. Not to your _face,_ anyway. Now, hurry up or we'll _both_ be late – you're lucky I waited for you at all." Without another word, Chloé turned on her heel and started speed-walking to school – she was above such things as 'running.'

Sabrina sighed, trying one more time to tug her fingers through her hair, and ran after her friend. Even speed-walking, Chloé was faster than her. "Chloé, wait for me! I didn't put my headband in! _Chloé!"_ she cried, finally giving up on combing her hair and just running.

"Hurry _up!_ I want to get there before Adrien does!" Chloé's voice sounded distant already – just how far ahead had she gone?

"Chloé-!" Sabrina cried again, running even faster.

Then several things happened at once.

First, she turned a corner and saw Chloé walking not five feet away. In a few seconds, she'd turn the corner and school would be in sight.

Second, she saw an elderly man walking perpendicular to their path, just about to cross in front of Chloé.

Third, in her haste to catch up to her BFF, she failed to notice a slimy hamburger wrapper on the ground, just where her foot was about to land.

Fourth, she slid on the wrapper and realized that the trash men hadn't come by to empty this particular garbage can yet.

Fifth...her fall created a domino effect – she knocked into Chloé, who knocked into the older man, and all three of them upset the garbage can.

Chloé managed to survive unscathed, leaping away with near superhuman speed at the last second. Sabrina and the old man, however, were not so lucky.

" _Excuse you?!"_ Chloé snapped, glaring down at her friend. "What was that just now? Are you trying to make us late?!"

"It was an accident, I-"

"Come _on!"_ Chloé turned towards the school and actually _did_ run the rest of the way towards it, trying to beat the limousine as she always did.

"Chloé, wait! Chloé, what if-?!" Sabrina began, then sighed. What was the point? Chloé couldn't even hear her anymore. She pushed herself up onto one knee, and reached for the old man, who hadn't moved since being knocked over. "Sir, I am _so_ sorry! Are you hurt anywhere?" Old people were really susceptible to injury, weren't they? With their brittle bones and all?

To her surprise and immense relief, however, the old man just waved a hand at her. "Oh, no, I'm alright. A little surprised, honestly, but no injuries." He paused. "What's the saying again, nothing wounded but my pride?"

Sabrina let herself laugh a little when he did, feeling like a weight was removed from her. "G-Good – are you sure, though? If you need to, I can call an ambulance, and-"

"No need, I just need my walking stick-"

"Oh! I'll get it, uh..." Sabrina glanced around, then spotted it two feet away. How did it get all the way over there? The fall must have been worse than she'd thought. She jogged over to it, bent to pick it up-

-and turned around to see the old man right behind her. "Ah!"

"Sorry," the man said. "I was trying to fetch it myself – you didn't need to go to the trouble."

"Well, I _guess_ not but...Oh." Sabrina used her thumb and forefinger to remove a tissue from the man's shoulder. "I have some sanitizing wipes here if you want some," she said, digging through her bag. "Th-there isn't a sink or anyplace to wash up for another block, but will this help in the meantime? Th-They're scented – ocean breeze!" She was probably rambling, she knew, but she couldn't help it.

The man was probably an American tourist, if his Hawaiian shirt was any indication, and here she was introducing him to Paris by crashing into him and getting trash all over him! How mortifying – if it were another time, and if he were an ambassador, their countries could easily go to war over this! Even if they couldn't now, it was _very_ rude of her.

The man said nothing, even as she pressed the scented wipes into his hands, merely gazed at her thoughtfully. "Thank you. Where were you off to in such a hurry?"

"School," Sabrina answered. "I- Oh, _no."_ She bit back a groan, running past the man and back to the garbage can. Carefully, she righted it again and began hastily gathering up the trash. She knew it was silly, but she could just hear her father telling her littering was wrong and it was everyone's job to keep their beautiful city clean, and-

And weirdly enough, no one else was around.

No one but the old man, who was in front of her again as if by magic, calmly helping her to clean and drop the trash in the can. "You're a hard worker, aren't you?" he chuckled.

"What? No, I just don't want to leave this lying around," she admitted.

"Cleaning this up, helping me, offering me these..." He held up the sanitizing wipes. "I'm sure you did all of your homework last night, _two times_."

Sabrina recoiled, startled. Then she forced a laugh. "O-Oh, you were joking! Because I'm doing all this – I get it, sir."

The man wasn't laughing, or smiling, but Sabrina barely noticed. She just dropped the rest of the trash in the can, stood up, and used a wipe on her own hands. "Are you sure you don't need an ambulance?" she asked again. "S-Sometimes you don't notice you're hurt til too late."

"Hm, that's very true..." The man's tone was quiet, thoughtful as he stared at Sabrina. Then he looked somewhere behind her. "But I assure you, I'm all right. And you're going to be late if you stay here a minute longer, Sabrina."

" _Oh my gosh!"_ Sabrina gasped, the realization hitting her like lightning. She hadn't even given Chloé the homework yet! "I'm so sorry, I – Please see a doctor if you feel any pain! Call my father, he's police! Sorry again, sorry, have a good day!" Sabrina yelled over her shoulder as she grabbed her schoolbag and ran like hounds were on her heels. She dimly heard the old man wishing her goodbye as she turned the corner towards school.

It wasn't until she was running up the stairs, yelling in dismay when the bell sounded, that she realized: she'd never actually said her name.

* * *

School wasn't that much better.

She was late coming into class and got a stern reprimand from Mme Bustier, in front of everyone no less. Marinette had looked sympathetic, but Sabrina knew there wasn't much she could do.

Then she'd had to quietly slip Chloé's homework to her under their desks since she was too late to hand it over before class, but Mme Bustier had caught their movements. She'd initially suspected note-passing, but when she saw the paper was actually homework with Chloé's name on it, she naturally assumed Sabrina was cheating.

And of course, Chloé didn't speak up in her defense. Why would she, Sabrina realized as she sat through a "very disappointed in you" lecture, when the paper had _her_ name on it? There wasn't a lot she could have done, really.

She had to deal with messy hair until gym class. That had actually been kind of okay, as Marinette had offered her a hair brush and an apologetic smile.

Even if Chloé _did_ raise a fuss about it...

She used the time she had in detention (for cheating, or at least attempting to) to finish the homework for tomorrow. She'd work on Chloé's copy at home.

And of course, all day she kept thinking about the old man. How she hoped he really wasn't hurt, how lucky he was if it were true, wondering if she ought to have left her contact information with him...

She hoped he was okay.

* * *

Sabrina exhaled heavily as she entered the house that night. "Dad, I'm home!" she called out.

There was no answer.

"Dad?"

Still nothing.

Sabrina walked to the kitchen. Her father probably left a note for her.

And there it was, right on the front of the fridge. _Sabrina, working late tonight. Leftover lasagna in the fridge, you can have some Dupain-Cheng macarons for dessert. Love you, Dad._

Sabrina couldn't help but smile, even more so when she opened the fridge and saw the familiar pink box that wasn't there yesterday. Though she dared not say anything to Chloé, she really did love the Dupain-Chengs' goodies. Then again, who didn't?

She took a macaron out of the box for a snack and headed to her room. The silence was peaceful, a bit comforting after a day of school, and even when she was alone at home she felt relaxed. Her house was her sanctuary, and the peace and quiet made it even better.

She first thing to get her attention when she flicked on her light was Pierre, the little cactus on her shelf. "Hey, little guy," she whispered, smiling gently. It might have been weird to talk to a cactus of all things, but hey, studies _had_ shown that plants did better when someone talked to them. And Chloé didn't even know about Pierre – what she didn't know, she couldn't ridicule. "Do you want some water?" she asked, turning to fetch the spray bottle.

And then she saw the box.

It sat in the middle of her bed, like a hotel chocolate. It was black, hexagonal, and as Sabrina drew closer she could see some red markings on it. Maybe it was a gift from her father? But her birthday wasn't for another three months. And there wasn't even a note attached, as she knew he would have done.

Maybe it was on the inside? Sabrina opened the lid...

...and found a golden hair comb. And not just golden in color, it looked like it might be _real gold._ Sabrina's breath caught in her throat as she grabbed the comb and held it to her face. How had her father been able to _afford_ something like this?! A policeman's salary wasn't _this_ much!

Maybe it was from Chloé? But Chloé's jewelry was all from the Agreste line, and she hadn't heard anything about a hair comb – a _bee_ hair comb, now that she looked closer – and anyway, Chloé wouldn't just _leave_ it for her anonymously, nor would she come into Sabrina's house, come to think of it-

Sabrina's train of thought was brought to a screeching halt when the comb suddenly felt warm under her fingertips, and bright light filled her room. She dropped the comb with a yelp and closed her eyes.

* * *

" _Pardon me for asking, but are you certain Paris needs her to awaken?"_

" _No, Wayzz, Paris does not need her, not yet."_

" _Then why...?"_

" _Because... **Paris** might not have need of her yet, but someone else has need of her **now."**_

* * *

Sabrina blinked the spots out of her vision and lowered her arm from her face.

Then she blinked again, hard.

The box and comb were on the floor. But floating above them, at eye-level, was a small creature a little smaller than Sabrina's hand. Its head was as big as its body was, and despite the wings protruding from its back, it flew completely without use of them. The head was yellow, the limbs were black, a thick yellow stripe wrapped around its torso, and two antennae sprouted from its head.

For lack of a better word...it was a giant, two-legged, two-armed bee.

Then the creature opened its honey-brown eyes. As soon as it saw Sabrina, it smiled brightly and flew closer. "Sabrina!" it gasped, voice feminine and warm. "Oh, I was _hoping_ it would be you..."

Sabrina finally found her voice again and did the only thing she could think of.

She screamed at the top of her lungs and shot backwards.

"Sabrina! Sabrina, please calm down!" The creature evaded Pierre's spray bottle as it hurtled towards her. "Please, I know you're frightened and this is very strange to you but if you would just-" A stuffed cat went flying then, and the creature ducked out of the way. "Really, I'm not here to hurt you, I just-" Her eyes went wider. _"Sabrina,_ _ **please**_ _put the book down!"_

"Don't come any closer!" Sabrina shouted, brandishing her math textbook before her like a shield. "Don't come closer or - or I'll _squish_ you! I will!"

"Sabrina, dear, violence is never-" the creature began, then stopped herself and sighed. Her antennae drooped slightly as she nodded. "Well, I suppose I do understand. Of course you wouldn't know what I was or why I was here."

Sabrina slowly, shakily, lowered the book. Her breathing was ragged and her arms were trembling, but she wasn't screaming anymore. The creature's words, and her gentle voice, were slowly but steadily convincing her she wasn't in any danger.

"Now," the creature said, smiling a little as she saw Sabrina's face clearly again. "Would you like to sit down, while I explain?"

A few minutes later, Sabrina sat on the edge of her bed, not fully relaxed yet but not as tense as earlier. She still held the book in her hands, just in case. The floating thing didn't seem to _mind_ too much, as she only glanced at it before beginning her speech.

"Alright, Sabrina. Now, first things first, my name is Hanii, and I'm called a kwami. I'm a little god that grants power to a select person, and this time that person is you!" The creature, Hanii, paused as if expecting a reaction. When she got none, she continued as if she didn't even mind. "I can grant you the power of restoration – bees are excellent workers and builders, you know, so it's no trouble at all to rebuild what's broken. A building, cloth, _bone..._ Of course, once you rebuild something you have five minutes left of your transformation before- Ah, yes?" she asked, seeing Sabrina suddenly raise her hand, as if she were still at school.

"Transformation?" Sabrina echoed, her brows knitting together.

"Ah, how silly of me to forget! Yes, in accepting this, you'll be given the ability to transform – much like your two heroes."

"Like – heroes – wait!" Sabrina dropped the book completely; it fell to the floor with a heavy _thud_ that made Hanii cringe slightly. "You mean...Ladybug and Chat Noir...they have something like you, too?"

"That's right."

"And if I have _you,_ then I can..." Sabrina's voice was as faint as she felt.

"That's right! You're a quick learner," Hanii said without a hint of mockery.

Sabrina felt like falling backwards onto her bed, she felt so weak just then. She barely heard anything Hanii was exclaiming all of a sudden. It was just a muffled, underwater noise.

"Transform." "Heroes." Ladybug and Chat Noir – the _heroes of Paris –_ had little things like this. They had been given boxes with valuable-looking trinkets inside, and now Sabrina had one too.

" _Heroes."_

Sabrina was...

No.

No. She most certainly was _not._

"Sabrina!"

Sabrina blinked, suddenly realizing Hanii was floating directly in front of her face. Her little arms were raised to touch skin, and her eyes were wide in concern and alarm. "Are you alright? You suddenly went pale."

"I..." Sabrina's mouth felt dry. "Miss Kwami-"

"Hanii. Just Hanii, if you please."

"Hanii. I don't know how you got in my room, or how the box got in here, but-" Sabrina stood up so suddenly that Hanii was sent pinwheeling backwards. "But there's been a mistake!"

"What?" Hanii said. She zipped over to where Sabrina was kneeling to pick up the comb and box. "Why do you say that?! There's no mistake, Sabrina, dear, these are _never_ mistakes!"

"W-well then this is the first mistake! Whoever sent you has the wrong girl." Sabrina looked up at Hanii as she spoke, the hand holding the comb trembling a bit. "I can't be a hero, I just can't. I'm not good enough for anything like that – there's nothing special about me to make me _deserve_ this, either. I'm not pretty, not athletic, not smart, not popular, not _anything_ and there's no way I've done anything to deserve this." She looked down at the floor, partly to look for the box and partly so Hanii wouldn't see her tears beginning to form.

She wasn't entirely sure why she was crying, really. She didn't _think_ she'd gotten her hopes up...Maybe she was just upset that this mistake had happened at all. "You probably – you were probably looking for my friend, Chloé. She's Ladybug's number one fan, she'll probably be a better choice." She could see Chloé as the better choice too. Chloé was far prettier and fashionable than she was, she could _easily_ pull off the 'spandex and domino mask' look. She could make it look _good._ Sabrina could see her in her mind's eye, standing high atop the Eiffel Tower, glittering and gleaming in black and gold, tossing her perfect hair...

Laughing at Sabrina as she stood far, far below hoping for even the smallest acknowledgment...

"O-Or Rose! Rose is a girl my class, she's _so_ sweet, everyone loves her. Or Alya, Alya runs the Ladyblog, so she knows all sorts of hero things! She'd have a leg-up on any of us! Or – or or or there's another girl in my class, Juleka? She could really u-use a confidence boost, there was this a-awful thing that happened on class picture day – and I helped with that – so you know she'd love to...she'd love to have you, I'm positive you were supposed to go to her."

Hanii hadn't said a word during this whole speech. Sabrina didn't even look at her, focusing instead on the carpet, which was starting to blur before her eyes. She blinked and felt hot tears roll down her face.

"This was a mistake...You weren't supposed to come to me, you were supposed to be someone else's. Someone more deserving than me. I...I'm the last person who should have this thing." She closed her eyes, not wanting to watch Hanii or the comb disappear. "I-It would have been nice, but...You had this wrong. I'm sorry."

There was nothing but silence, and at first Sabrina thought perhaps Hanii had left already. But she still felt the weight of the comb in her hand. Then she felt tiny hands touch her forehead, and she couldn't help tensing up slightly.

"Oh, Sabrina..." Hanii's voice breathed. "Sabrina, sweetheart, I promise, it's no mistake."

Sabrina didn't answer, quietly sniffling. If it wasn't a mistake, then...then it was a cruel joke.

As if reading her thoughts, Hanii went on. "Sabrina. Listen to me. People are not Chosen simply because they would look the best as a hero, or due to popularity, or how clever they are. It's so much more than that, more than...than I could possibly tell you! There's a lot that goes into the deciding of who gets a Miraculous and which one, and it was decided that you really are the best choice for the Bee Miraculous."

"But _why?"_ Sabrina choked out. "What's so special about _me?_ I'm nothing!"

"Sabrina..." Hanii whispered, placing a tiny kiss on her forehead. "I can already say with certainty, you are far better than you believe."

Sabrina let out a wet snort.

Hanii paused for a moment, tilting her head. After a bit of deliberation, she smiled. "And let me tell you something else. Not all Chosens are, well, chosen, strictly because another hero is needed. I don't say this to hurt you, but to tell you that if you accept me, you don't _have_ to fight Akuma. Not if you don't want to."

"Wha...?" Sabrina looked up at last, wiping her eyes on her sleeves. "But...But why else would anyone say yes? Why else would anyone be sent one of you guys at _all?_ "

"Let me have one night to show you. One night to help you decide. If after tonight you decide you still don't want this, I shall go away, and the Miraculous will be gone in the morning. Alright?"

Sabrina nodded slowly. She still didn't think she'd agree to...to whatever else this might bring, but she could see this meant a lot to Hanii. And she supposed she _could_ try, at least. It was only one night, after all. What could happen, what could Hanii even show her? "Alright..."

Hanii grinned from ear to nonexistent ear and floated backwards, cheering as she did a mid-air back-flip. "Wonderful! Alright, now, first things first. In order to show you, tonight you have to listen to what I tell you, alright? You can't properly decide if you don't."

Sabrina began to wonder what she was getting into. "Alright..." she mumbled again, nodding.

"Wonderful! First things first, put the comb in your hair."

Ohhh but that was easier said than done. Sabrina looked down at the comb, which suddenly felt much heavier than it had before. How did you even do that? She knew it was possible, she'd seen women with combs in their hair – both around town and on televised runway shows. But putting it in by _herself?_

"Oh, here, let me," Hanii offered, taking it from her and floating up to Sabrina's temple. Sabrina felt her headband being gently pushed back, and the weight of the comb against her head. "There!"

Sabrina briefly wished she'd been watching in a mirror, to see how Hanii had done it, but then snapped herself out of it. This wasn't going to happen again, it'd just be one night.

"Now, stand up, and say 'Transform Me.'"

"Transform me-?" Sabrina echoed, thinking that really couldn't be all it took, but the words no sooner left her mouth than she was surrounded by golden light. For the third time in less than half an hour, she yelled, squeezing her eyes shut and tensing up. But the light was so strong she could even see it through her eyelids, even brighter as it passed over her eyes – and it was warm, she didn't think light would be _warm –_

-and then all at once, it was gone.

Sabrina opened her eyes again, blinking in surprise as she saw everything had a slightly darker tint. And Hanii was gone. "Hanii?" she called out, looking around. "Hanii, where are you?!" Had she already left after all? "Hanii-" In looking around, her gaze fell upon the mirror above her nightstand. And all she could do was stare.

She wasn't wearing spandex, or leather, or a domino mask. Well, it might have been spandex, she wasn't one hundred percent sure on it, but it was...

A costume. It was definitely a costume.

The girl in the mirror wore a black and yellow mini-dress; the skirt yellow with a thick black stripe around the waist, followed by a yellow stripe, and the chest area black. Well, what she could see of the chest, anyway. It was mostly covered by a small capelet – or was it a tiny poncho? Capelet sounded cuter, she decided – yellow in color, with a black collar that went all the way to her chin. She could see the bottom of the collar split and flare out against the yellow. Her arms were covered in tight black fabric, with more fabric in a _barely_ lighter shade of black on the forearms. They were like arm-warmers, she decided, only they fit more snugly, and tapered into a point over the backs of her hands. She wore black leggings, and knee-high boots that matched the arm-warmers, right to the tapered points, this time over her knees.

She turned a little, spotting a golden hexagonal _thing_ attached to her waist by...nothing, apparently, and two small, round, see-through wings on the small of her back. Her eyes flickered back up to her face, and she saw two cutesy little antennae popping out of her hair. ( _Ohhh, I hope there's a headband hidden in there, and they're not growing out of my head!_ she thought.) The bee comb had changed somewhat, too – it was brighter than ever, with black stripes across its body, catching the lamp light and gleaming.

But what really startled her was what was over her eyes. She didn't wear a domino mask like Paris's heroes did. Instead, there was something like a dark visor, or perhaps sunglasses, sitting over her nose and covering her eyes. The shape reminded her of bug's eyes, and the arches almost went past her face altogether. Even more shocking, her vision wasn't the slightest bit blurry.

" _You don't need your glasses as Honeycomb. The visor will fix any vision problems for you!"_

"H-Hanii?!" Sabrina cried, spinning around to see the creature. "Where are you?!"

" _Hm, for lack of a better word, I'm in you. Your head, I suppose. Don't worry, no one else can hear me."_

"My head?!" Sabrina cried again, reaching up to grab at her head, as if she could feel Hanii in there.

She heard Hanii chuckle, though not unkindly. _"Alright. Now, I promised to show you something, and you said you would listen to me. So I need you to trust me right now."_

"I – I guess I do," Sabrina stammered.

" _Alright. First, open your window, and get to the roof using the fire escape."_

Sabrina had used the fire escape only once before in her life. There was the time when she was six, and her father had accidentally set dinner on fire. She'd seen the flames and panicked, running for the fire escape and leaving the building.

Her dad noticed she was gone after using the fire extinguisher on their dinner, and had run out to find her. When he did, two minutes later, he'd picked her up and hugged her tight, alternating between telling her to never run away like that again and praising her for knowing what to do in case of fire.

It was a little funny, Sabrina thought to herself halfway up the ladder, that she remembered that now.

She made it to the roof faster than she expected. Climbing the ladder had been easy, effortless as walking down the street. And to her surprise, even though she was outside in the night air, her vision wasn't dark through her visor. Actually, as soon as she'd gone through the window, her vision had shifted a bit so the night looked as bright as day to her. It was probably due to being in a costume, having a kwami in her head.

And speaking of the kwami...

" _Alright. Now, remember when I said I needed you to trust me?"_

"Yes?"

" _Well, **trust me.** You're going to run to the edge of the roof, and jump to the next one."_

"What?!" Sabrina shrieked, so loud she heard a window below her open.

" _Sabrina, please! I promise, there is a point to this-"_

"I'll fall! I'll fall and I'll die!"

" _You will not fall and you will not die. I won't let you."_

"I'll-"

" _Sabrina."_ Hanii's voice was stern, though it didn't lose its warmth. Sabrina felt compelled to listen, much like a child does their mother. _"Do you remember the jumps Ladybug and Chat Noir make?"_

Sabrina nodded. "U-Uh-huh." She saw plenty of them on the Ladyblog.

" _This is going to be much, **much** shorter. You aren't going to fall. It'll feel like jumping over a rain puddle. Okay?"_

Sabrina hesitated.

" _Sabrina?"_ Hanii asked.

One night. Hanii would show her this, and she'd do it, and then she'd say thanks but no thanks. One night and this would end. "O-Okay..."

" _Take a deep breath, a minute to calm down. We're going to take a little walk tonight, and I'll tell you which ways to turn, okay? Now, as soon as you're ready, run to the northwest corner and jump to the next rooftop."_

Sabrina turned in the northwest direction. Okay, that wouldn't be so bad. Her roof was higher than that one, all she had to do was fall towards it. And Hanii was right, the distance was shorter – much shorter – than any jump she'd seen on Alya's footage. _Hanii promised you'd be okay,_ she told herself. _She promised..._ With this in mind, Sabrina took a deep, steadying breath...

...and ran forward.

She felt herself go faster than she ever had before, her hair blowing in the breeze she herself was creating. It made her heart skip a beat, and before she knew it, she'd reached the corner of the roof. She barely heard Hanii's _"Now!"_ as she sprang off like a hurdle-jumper, arching through the air. And then, all too soon, she touched down on the next rooftop, easily two feet away from the corner.

She stood there, frozen with her breath in her throat. Did she just...? She turned around quickly, eyes wide. She _did_ just.

" _You did it! I told you!"_ Hanii's voice cheered in her head. _"How do you feel?"_

"I feel..." Sabrina started, still gaping. She had never done anything like that before. Ever. It was dangerous, it was crazy, it was...

...kind of liberating, really.

And...like she was running off everything that had upset her before, leaving them behind.

"...I feel like...I can do it again." She smiled.

* * *

She was dimly aware of Hanii's instructions – left corner here, right here, turn 75 degrees, leap across this street – as she ran and leaped across rooftops. She felt cool wind in her hair, against her face, ruffling her new clothes. She heard her boots smacking against the building materials. Though she had no idea how long she'd been running, she didn't feel the least bit tired.

Sabrina heard herself laughing giddily as she skidded sharply on the roof of another building, following Hanii's next instruction. This was _nuts!_ Sabrina never did things like this, never thought of doing anything like this.

But here she was, outside in the night, running high above the city without a care in the world.

There was no one to tell her she couldn't. There was no one to curl their lip at her. No one to make her feel insignificant, or judge her, or hurt her, or _anything_ really.

There was just her, Hanii, the wind, and a sea of lights and sound below her.

Despite the hustle and bustle of the city, she felt above it all, apart from it, in her own little world.

And it was _amazing._

" _Okay!"_ Hanii's voice rang out. _"Run just a little further and jump as far as you can. That's our destination!"_

"Okay – huh?" Sabrina blinked as she ran, gaping again. "Hanii," she cried. "That's the Eiffel Tower!"

" _I know! Isn't it beautiful? Just keep running and jump onto it!"_

"Are you sure about-" Sabrina began, then shook her head. No. No, Hanii said to trust her, and...and Sabrina was having so much fun already. "Okay!"

" _One...two...now!"_

Sabrina leaped, feeling more power in her legs than any of her previous jumps, and then she was airborne. It ended in the blink of an eye, however, and she no sooner had landed on the famous structure than Hanii was telling her to hurry and climb up a little more.

She was certain, Sabrina thought as she began her ascent, that no one had seen her. She was invisible before, it'd be understandable if she still was. And besides, she added privately, stopped when Hanii said so, even if she was spotted, no one could come after her. Or even know it was her.

And she might not even do this again...it was one night, it-

" _Sabrina. Look out there."_

Sabrina remained standing and turned her head.

What she saw made her eyes widen, and her heart pound wildly in her chest.

Paris stretched below her in a sea of gold and ruby lights against a velvet sky. She could see their reflections against the water, shimmering and swimming like underwater jewels. Every now and then she thought she could hear a faint shout from below, but it was never distinct enough for her to make out. She could vaguely see the streets cutting between the lights, filled with tinier lights from cars. Closer to her, she could make out some huge, lit-up advertisements for a new musical, or a new line of perfumes. It was like something she could see in a movie, or on a poster.

And it was hers.

Sabrina inhaled the cold night air, letting it fill her lungs as her heart started to swell. It was beautiful...And she'd run and leaped all this way to see it. Both realizations hit her at once, and she couldn't help but collapse into a sitting position, taking it all in.

She was strong...she was fast...she'd gone out to see this herself, just herself and nobody else to bother her. She was free, she had fun, she was exhilarated, she was...

_...happy._

" _I knew you would love this, Sabrina,"_ Hanii's warm voice sighed, as if she too were admiring the view. _"I can feel how happy you are right now..."_

"Yeah..." Sabrina breathed.

" _...Sabrina? Forgive my boldness, but...you've been miserable, and lonely, for a long time now, haven't you?"_

Sabrina's breath caught again. She didn't answer.

" _You weren't ever meant to be, you know. You don't deserve how you've felt."_

Sabrina said nothing, just felt the wind tickle her hair over her face.

Hanii didn't say anything either. Not for a long time.

It wasn't until...oh, perhaps half an hour later that either of them spoke. _"I think it's time you head home, Sabrina."_

"Okay." Sabrina nodded, turning to climb down the Eiffel Tower- But then she halted. Frowned.

Turned around to look into the ocean of lights.

" _Sabrina?"_

Sabrina felt a smile work its way across her face as she began walking. Gradually, that walk turned into a jog, then a run, then a frantic race-

-and with a loud, shrill _**whoop**_ , Sabrina launched herself off the edge of the platform she was on.

Time seemed to stand still as she suspended in midair, high above the world. She was weightless, one with the night wind as it pulled and whipped her hair and clothes. Behind her, she could sense her wings stiffening and shifting somewhat to catch the air and keep her buoyant a little while longer. Her arms were raised high above her head, her legs bent before her, like she was a kid jumping into a pool. She didn't fear falling, she didn't fear anything, there was nothing but the now, and flying, and _freedom._

And then suddenly, time resumed. Sabrina landed dramatically on another rooftop, running a little from the momentum before she finally slowed down and collapsed. She didn't stop there, however, and instead rolled onto her back so she faced skyward, hands over her eyes.

" _Sabrina!"_ Hanii exclaimed. _"Sabrina, are you all right?!"_

It was only then that Sabrina realized she was laughing. And crying. At the same time. Hot tears trickled down her cheeks, interfering with the coolness that the leap had given her.

" _Sabrina?"_ Hanii ventured.

Sabrina finally calmed down enough to take a deep breath, removing her hands from her visor. But the bright smile remained. "H-Hey, Hanii?"

" _Yes?"_

"I-In this form...what did you say my name was?"

She felt Hanii's happiness, warm and comforting, even before Hanii spoke. _"You are Honeycomb, Sabrina."_

* * *

Unfortunately, the elation did not last.

Sabrina met Chloé at their meeting spot with a bright smile and a slight skip to her step, making the other girl raise an eyebrow.

"What happened to you? Detention couldn't have been that entertaining."

First blow.

"Oh. Nothing happened. I just had a good night, that's all."

Chloé's brow raised further when her eyes flickered up to the comb hanging haphazardly in Sabrina's hair. If not for the headband looped over it – awkwardly and a bit painfully – it would have fallen out. " _Where_ did you get that?"

Sabrina smiled shyly at her BFF. "Do you like it?" she asked, touching it self-consciously. "I got it in the mail. I think it's from a relative of-"

"Ugh, no wonder it's clashing with your brooch, then. It's some kind of cheap knockoff. Do you even know what it's a knockoff _of?"_

"Er...no..."

Second blow.

Sabrina felt Hanii shifting in her schoolbag. She hoped Hanii was comfortable in there, with the-

Oh. Oh _no._

"So do you have my homework or not?"

"I – I..."

"Y-You...?" Chloé mocked.

"I...forgot..."

" _You what?!"_ Chloé's shout attracted the attention of all the other gathering students. "Sabrina!" she hissed, grabbing her shoulder and squeezing hard. "We've had this arrangement for years! You've _never_ forgotten!"

"I – I just slipped this one time! It won't happen again!"

"Ugh, it better not. Okay, okay, fine. We can overlook this – just give me _your_ homework."

"I can't..." Sabrina mumbled, face burning. "I already put my name on all of mine. A-And I used _my_ pencils, not yours, so even if we erased my name and put yours down, Mme Bustier will get-"

" _Are you kidding me?!_ Sabrina, did you do this on purpose?"

Third blow.

Sabrina wilted, shaking her head and looking at her toes. "I'm sorry, Chloé. I won't do it again, I promise..." She looked at Chloé beneath her lashes, smiling anxiously in hopes that she'd be appeased.

Chloé snarled under her breath and stormed into the classroom. Which could mean anything, honestly. Sabrina exhaled, then winced. Chloé's grip was stronger than the blonde thought.

"Hey, you okay?"

Sabrina looked up in shock to see Marinette in front of her.

"Oh! Oh, I'm fine! Thanks for asking – thanks for the brush yesterday, too!"

"Don't mention it!" Marinette smiled as she walked into the classroom.

Sabrina already felt her mood beginning to improve, if at least a little bit. She'd never say this to Chloé, but Marinette had a way of making anyone around her feel happier.

So it was with a slight smile that Sabrina walked into the classroom, taking her seat next to Chloé. Not even Chloé's slight grumble could bring her down-

" _Dudes! Dudes, did you check the Ladyblog?!"_ she suddenly heard Nino shouting as he raced into the room.

The reaction was mixed: some were loudly exclaiming that they had, some said no not yet. And then those people quickly started shouting and standing up when they _did_ check.

Sabrina saw Marinette check her phone, then stiffen with a cry of shock as Alya leaned over to point out something on the screen. A second later, Adrien entered the room with his gaze on _his_ phone and a similar stunned look.

What was going on?

Sabrina dug into her schoolbag and pulled out her phone, hastily logging into her account on the blog. From inside the bag, Hanii gave her a concerned, confused expression. "Sabrina?" she whispered.

Next to her, Chloé just chortled.

"I knew as soon as it updated. Surprised you didn't know already, Sabrina."

Know about what-

Sabrina was finally logged in, and her blood ran cold.

The video was shaky, and the figure was blurry, but there was a distinctive yellow and black girl soaring through the sky, away from the Eiffel Tower and towards one of the nearby buildings. She was only visible for a second or two before landing and rolling out of sight, but visible she was.

The video swung around to show Alya's face just then. _"Did you all see that?!"_ the video Alya cried.

"I think she kinda looks like a bee, don't you?" the real-life Alya was saying.


	3. I Will Get There

Hanii squeaked as she felt the bag being dropped roughly to the ground, and took a second to shake off the dizziness. It'd been a very rough last two minutes.

She hadn't been able to see much, being in Sabrina's bag and having it closed on her after she'd called out to her. But she'd _heard_ everything. Immediately after Sabrina had seen something on her phone, another woman – the teacher, most likely – had come in and called for everyone to settle down. Then her voice had taken an alarmed tone and she'd said Sabrina was looking _literally_ green and was she going to be sick?

A split-second later, Hanii felt Sabrina's bag being lifted off the ground, heard her stammer out an affirmation, and they were running pell mell down the hallway.

And now here they were.

Hanii's poked her head out of the bag to see Sabrina sprawled gracelessly in front of a toilet, her shaking arms hugging the bowl, her head half-disappeared. She wasn't throwing up, but she was breathing harshly and occasionally making a loud gagging noise.

That was pretty concerning.

"Sabrina? Are you alright?" Hanii zipped out of her bag and hovered by her head. She spared a glance at the comb – still secured under the headband, good – before looking back at her charge. "Oh my – you really _are_ green!"

Sabrina lifted her head, eyes wide and face pale – and with a definite green tint to it. "I can't do this!" she wheezed, resting her head against the (mercifully clean) seat. "I can't do this..."

"Do what?"

"Alya saw me. She saw me, she _recorded_ me. And now it's on the Ladyblog, and probably all of Paris saw me – they're going to know it's me, Chloé's going to know it's me. And if they saw me then I'll have to fight Akuma too because I'll look like some kind of _monster_ if I don't, but-"

"Sabrina-"

"-but they'll know it's _me,_ the girl who locked Juleka in a bathroom and stole Marinette's diary and-"

" _Sabrina-_ "

"-and what if they hate me?! I wouldn't be surprised if they did, after I-" She suddenly gasped, face turning whiter than ever. "Oh, God, _no! No, I'm panicking, I'm panicking and_ _ **upset**_ _and last time I was this upset I turned into Vanisher, I'm gonna-"_

" _ **Sabrina, breathe!"**_ Hanii zipped right in front of the girl's face, placing her tiny hands on either side of her nose and forcing her to look at her. Sabrina went slightly cross-eyed, but her attention was solely on Hanii. "Sabrina," she repeated in a gentler tone. "Take a deep breath...Good. Okay. _First,_ just to clear things up, you _cannot_ become an Akuma now. Your Miraculous is going to protect you from that. Okay?"

Sabrina felt like most of the tightness in her chest vanished just hearing _that,_ honestly. She nodded, still taking deep, steadying breaths.

"And second, don't worry. No one is going to know who you are. Do you know who Ladybug and Chat Noir are?"

"N-No..."

"Then they won't either. The Miraculous casts a glamour on the user so it's impossible to tell who they are behind the mask – or visor, as the case may be. The only way anyone would know it was you was if you dropped the transformation in front of them, or transformed in front of them. So nobody recognized you. Okay?"

Sabrina inhaled deeply again, managing a nod. Okay, that was another problem down...

"As for Akuma..." Hanii frowned, sucking her lower lip.

Well, two out of three was still better than she could have hoped for.

"Hm...let me think...If you wished to join the fighting, I'm sure that would be alright. But if you don't, perhaps if you lay low...But it'd be good manners to at least introduce yourself now that you've been spotted. Maybe..." she muttered, more to herself than Sabrina.

 _Maybe they wouldn't want extra help to begin with,_ Sabrina thought, not sure if she was hopeful or dejected about it. The thought gave her a mixed feeling in her gut.

"I don't want you to do anything you don't want, I don't want to force you to do anything, so we both really need to think about this and decide what-"

Hanii's muttering was suddenly interrupted by a tapping knock on the bathroom wall. To Sabrina it sounded like a loud, demanding pounding, echoing around the mostly-empty room. She jumped where she still sat on the floor, instinctively grabbing Hanii and holding her under her chin, holding her breath.

"Sabrina? Are you all right in there? Do you need an escort to the nurse?"

 _Rose._ Sabrina let out her breath, leaning against the stall's wall as she felt the tension drain out of her. It was only Rose.

...huh. Rose had been the one to get Juleka out of the bathroom after Sabrina had put her in there, and now she was the one coming to get Sabrina out. Sabrina wasn't sure if the irony was funny or cruel.

"Sabrina?" Rose called again. A few noises let Sabrina know she was walking into the room, likely worried from the lack of response.

"I – I'm fine!" Sabrina said, a little too loud. She flinched. "I'm fine," she said again.

She heard Rose stop in front of her stall. "You ran out in such a hurry," she said. "Do you need the nurse, do you need to go home?" She could just see Rose in her mind's eye; her big eyes dark with concern, her hands curled into fists at her chest.

The idea was tempting. She'd honestly love to just go straight back home, curl up under her covers, and try to forget about this morning. Just try to relax and mentally recuperate. Maybe her father would be home, and he'd try to pamper her like he always did when she was sick; putting chicken and noodles and dumplings in the slow cooker, getting her favorite tea going, bringing back a lava cake from the Dupain-Chengs'.

But...but if she went home, Chloé would be angrier at her. And Sabrina wouldn't get the homework for the day, so she wouldn't be able to do Chloé's – which would mean two days in a row. And Chloé would probably have wanted to go shopping after school anyway, and if Sabrina missed that there would be trouble...

Not to mention the fact that she couldn't just _fake_ being sick to her dad, she just couldn't. Not when he worked so hard.

"No, I'll...I'll be all right," she made herself say.

"Are you _sure?"_

Sabrina rose, shakily, to her feet, gently depositing Hanii back in her bag as she picked it up. She opened the stall door, coming face to face with the blonde girl, and forced a smile.

Rose was clearly not convinced. "You're still so pale!" she gasped, hands flying to her mouth. "If you're not going to go home, at least have some juice." And she reached into a bag that Sabrina hadn't noticed she'd been carrying earlier, and pulled out a small bottle of orange juice. Before Sabrina could protest, the bottle was pressed into her hands – it was room temperature, so clearly Rose had been carrying it for a while. Did she just come prepared for things like this? "Here. The sugar will help, too. You should probably drink it before we get back to class."

Sabrina stood there dumbly for a moment, looking at the bottle of juice instead of Rose. She wasn't sure why she didn't want to look at the other girl at the moment, she just...

There was a lot of weird, mixed feelings in her brain.

She wanted to ask a million things just then.

' _Why did Mme Bustier send **you** to get me?'_

_'Did you volunteer to look after me?'_

_'Aren't you mad about what happened to Juleka a while back?'_

_'Are you doing this because you were genuinely worried or did you just pity me?'_

But she didn't ask any of them. Instead, she uncapped the juice and started to drink it, slowly as the girls walked back to the classroom.

Rose was right, it was helping her a lot. Physically _and_ emotionally.

Mme Bustier stopped mid-sentence as Sabrina and Rose came back into the room, looking at the door. "Sabrina!" she cried, eyebrows lifting. "Are you sure you're okay to stay here?"

"I'm fine," Sabrina said again, smiling sheepishly as she slid into her seat beside Chloé. "I just uhm. Needed some air, I think."

"She was looking a little better when I came in," offered Rose, already in her own seat.

Mme Bustier looked hard at Sabrina, humming quietly before nodding. "All right. But if you feel sick again, let me know, and we'll send you home."

"I will."

As Mme Bustier turned around to face the board again, Chloé leaned over towards Sabrina. For a second, Sabrina's heart lifted. Her friend was worried about her! She was going to ask if she was really all right!

"If you throw up, do it away from me. I _really_ can't afford to get your germs!" she whispered, shifting her eyes meaningfully past Sabrina and towards Adrien.

Oh. Sabrina's heart sank again, though she just smiled and nodded. Well, Chloé was right after all. It'd be _awful_ if she got sick, much more than if it were Sabrina herself. ...come to think it, she didn't think Chloé had _ever_ been sick. She'd never missed school, at least, not that she could _remember._

But that didn't even matter because Sabrina wasn't sick and she wasn't going to get Chloé sick either. And thank goodness too because if Chloé were out sick, who would talk to Sabrina at school?

* * *

The rest of the school day was uneventful, for the most part.

Well, maybe someone asking Sabrina if she'd eaten okay when they all returned from lunch wasn't much of an _event,_ but it never happened, so Sabrina counted it thusly. After sending Nino a grateful smile and saying that oh yes, she'd kept her food down, she felt so much better now, really, Sabrina returned to her spot by Chloé. This time Chloé didn't edge away from Sabrina and her hypothetical germs, but rather exhaled lightly.

Since she didn't say anything afterwards, Sabrina imagined that sigh of relief had been for her own sake, not Chloé's.

As the bell rang to signal the end of the day, Sabrina rose from her seat quickly. Her hands went to her schoolbag, where Hanii still sat quietly – she really should let her out. She'd do just that. She was going to head straight home, have a hot drink and a sweet snack, and...

...well, she should probably check the Ladyblog message boards to see what people were saying about the video Alya had shot of her. She wasn't sure what she would find and she wasn't sure what she was _hoping_ for, but she still had to check, and plan for what to do next, and what should she do about the actual heroes of Paris and Akuma-

A grip on her arm made her train of thought crash.

"Sabrina!" Chloé's voice cried from behind her. "Where are you going?"

"Uh." Sabrina blinked as she turned to look at her BFF. "Home?"

Chloé frowned, mouth twisting and puckering out slightly. "Did you forget already? We had a shopping day today!"

Sabrina's eyes widened. Oh, shoot, that was right! She couldn't believe she'd forgotten – they had so many shopping days together it was more unusual for them _not_ to go out somewhere after school. After the events the night before and that morning, Sabrina had clean forgotten.

"Sorry, Chloé!" she said quickly. "I wasn't thinking."

"Clearly," said Chloé, folding her arms. "Now let's _go,_ I want to get-"

"Wait, should Sabrina even be going with you?"

Both girls turned to see Marinette and Alya halfway to the door. They were looking their way, similar frowns on their faces, though Marinette's was more pronounced. "I mean, she _threw up_ this morning," Marinette continued.

Well, she actually hadn't, but Sabrina remembered that Marinette didn't know that.

"What if she's still sick?" the brunette continued.

Sabrina briefly looked from Chloé to Marinette, eyes a bit wider in surprise. Marinette, of all people, being concerned for her?

"She's not," Chloé said before Sabrina could think of an answer. "And she looks fine now! Don't you, Sabrina?"

Well, she _guessed_ she did, she didn't really have a mirror on-hand...

"I'm fine," she said. "I'm great for shopping!"

Alya's eyebrow lifted.

Marinette's frown deepened, and she looked like she wanted to say something. But before she could, Chloé seized Sabrina by the arm and the two of them shoved past the girls to the door.

"I knew you'd be fine later. Now, _hurry,_ before someone else buys something _I_ want!"

* * *

Sabrina wasn't able to do a lot about Hanii or the Ladyblog during their shopping spree. She and Chloé hit several clothing and jewelry stores of varying quality, Sabrina appraising Chloé's selections positively, or saying "That one" to some piece or other. Sometimes Chloé would agree, but most of the time she wouldn't and instead pick what Sabrina _didn't_ think looked better than the first option. That wasn't so unusual, though. And it was understandable, too – after all, her fashion sense was much better than Sabrina's own.

She got a respite, however, when Chloé entered a fitting room, arms full of new shirts and jackets. She didn't need Sabrina's appraisal for this part; everything she held was something she'd already liked. Sabrina sat down in one of the chairs outside the fitting area, bag in her lap, and pulled out her phone.

Hanii blinked in the sudden light. "Are we home yet?" she asked.

"Almost," Sabrina promised. "I think we're almost done, just let Chloé pick some outfits."

"We've been out for three hours..." Hanii mumbled tiredly. "And I'm so hungry..."

"I promise, I'll feed you as soon as I can," Sabrina whispered, gently stroking the kwami on the head with a fingertip. Seeing this placate her, she opened the Ladyblog and went to the message boards.

There were only about a dozen or so threads about her appearance on the video, mercifully. Sabrina didn't know what she would have done if things had _exploded._ Well, okay, maybe twelve was still kind of a lot, but it wasn't nearly as many as any given thing Ladybug and Chat Noir did.

She tapped on one of the top posts, reading the words just enough to know what the verdict was.

This person thought she was just a cosplayer. He had no explanation for her leap from the Eiffel Tower, though...

She tapped another; this was a girl asking if Alya had doctored the footage. Alya herself had responded to that one, her typing obviously angry as she said that no, it was _not_ fake.

Another was a little more positive, saying that what they could make out looked cute – and oh God, they had screencapped the video and enlarged part of it. The image was even blurrier than ever, but now one could see she was a redhead and had a visor. They then wondered what her powers and purpose might be, if she was a foreigner or had always been in Paris but under the radar.

Another person wasn't even addressing her own appearance, but was asking "Didn't something like this happen with that Volpina girl? Where did she even _go?"_

All in all, Sabrina decided as she read over the rest, a mixed bag of reactions. Well, that was good – at least no one outright hated her yet, or assumed she was an enemy. She would rather be thought of as a hoax or cosplayer than an Akuma.

It still made her nervous, though...That had post mentioned Volpina, who'd just disappeared after her big debut. If Honeycomb never showed up again...what would people think? Would they think she'd abandoned them? Of course she'd never defended any of them to begin with, but she'd been seen at least and if she quickly disappeared after that... Or would people think she was an enemy, an ally to that Hawk Moth guy, creating her own Akuma behind a curtain or something? Would _Ladybug and Chat Noir_ think that?

So logically, she ought to try to introduce herself properly, right? But what if she couldn't-

Something touched her hand.

Sabrina jumped a little, then looked past her phone at her hand. Hanii, as if sensing her inner turmoil, had reached up and placed her tiny hands on the back of Sabrina's own. When their eyes met, the kwami gave her a reassuring smile.

After a moment or two, Sabrina smiled back, if only to appease Hanii.

Then she blinked, a thought occurring to her. "Hey, Hanii, what _do_ you eat, anyway?" As she thought of it, she hadn't fed Hanii at all the night before. She hadn't even thought to ask if kwami even _could_ eat.

"Well, we can eat anything humans can, but I'm partial to flower petals," Hanii said. "I had some while you were asleep last night," she added with a sheepish smile. "Don't worry, I only ate a few, and not enough to be noticeable. The flowers on your coffee table still look fine."

Before either of them could speak further, there was a tell-tale clicking sound behind Sabrina, and Hanii dove back into the bag just as Chloé walked back out. "Sabrina, would you get the clothes out for me? The ones I actually want are on the taller hook, leave the others."

"Sure, Chloé!" Sabrina jumped up and went to the fitting room to fetch Chloé's selections.

Even without Chloé's instructions, it was pretty easy to tell which ones were actually wanted. The lower hook had only four hangers on it. She took the others carefully, folding them over her arms to carry them to the counter with Chloé, ignoring the irritated grumble coming from her hip.

"Hey, Chloé? What do _you_ think about – about the girl in the video?" Sabrina asked later in the day. The two girls had decided they were tired and thirsty, and had moved to the food court for a drink. Sabrina's arms were aching terribly from carrying their (well, Chloé's) bags for so long, so it was a welcome relief for her to rest them on the table. She fidgeted with the straw of her bubble tea as she waited for her friend to respond.

Chloé hummed under her breath as she chewed a tapioca bead. Then she shrugged, eyes closing in nonchalance. "She hasn't even done anything," she said simply. "What's there to think of her?"

"O-Oh...I guess that's true-"

"It _is_ true. All she did was jump high. Ladybug does _so_ much more than that. Whoever she is, she's probably not even staying."

Sabrina stirred her tapioca beads around. "W-Well...her costume is cute, right? I like the capelet thing."

"Sabrina, you can barely _see_ her! All you can really see is a bunch of stripes – I know four eyes are better than two, but there's no way you could have seen her _that_ well!"

"Oh..." Sabrina didn't say anything further, instead sipping at her drink again. She felt her face warm up again; she knew she hadn't done anything worth talking about as Honeycomb, but... Well, privately, she _had_ been hoping Chloé would have at least thought Honeycomb was cute. Or showed her approval in some other way, like saying the color combination was flattering or something like that. Chloé did like yellow, surely she would have had something nice to say about _that_ much.

It was silly and selfish, she knew, but...

She'd never been thought of as 'cute' before. It'd be nice to hear it more.

The subject was dropped for the rest of the day, moving on to much more pleasant and relaxing topics. Whether Chloé should get the pink pumps or the green pumps, which Ladybug replica earrings looked more expensive (yes, she knows they're the same price, but what _looks_ more expensive, Sabrina?), when their next shopping day would be, and why Sabrina didn't need another tube of lipstick. It'd look better on Chloé anyway.

All the while, there was the occasional tiny huff from Sabrina's bag.

But finally, the day was over, and Sabrina was handing Chloé's bags to her butler with a pleasant smile. Chloé sent her off with a 'Stay well, don't get sick again tonight,' and a reminder to finish their homework this time. Sabrina nodded before leaving with a bit of a spring in her step.

Chloé'd said to stay well. She did care!

Unfortunately, without shopping to distract her, she found her thoughts drifting back to more anxious subjects, and fell into sullen silence.

* * *

Sabrina sat on her bed with the lights off, running her fingertips over the comb over and over. As the day had worn on, she'd gradually forgotten it was there, it felt as natural as her headband had. But when she actually thought about it and what it represented, took note of Hanii sitting on her nightstand (happily munching some rose petals Sabrina had plucked on her way home), it felt heavier. It felt warmer. It felt as if the comb itself were reminding Sabrina of its presence – not in a bad way, but just as a reminder that she needed to come to decision.

But that was silly.

She leaned back on her bed and pressed her forehead to the window to gaze outside. There wasn't much of a view from her apartment. Most of her vision was taken up by the building next door.

It was nothing like the fantastic view she'd had the night before.

_If I were Honeycomb full-time, I could see it anytime I wanted._

_...wait, isn't it selfish to want this because of a view?_

_And I'm not even trying to decide to be Honeycomb, I'm deciding...I don't even know anymore._ Sabrina sighed loudly and moved to rest her head on her knees. She couldn't think like this. She needed air, she needed something nice to look at while thinking, she needed-

She needed to be Honeycomb.

"Hanii?" Sabrina called out, lifting her head up.

In no time, Hanii was hovering in front of Sabrina's face, smiling as if she already knew what she wanted. "Yes?"

"Uhm..." Oh, it was _always_ going to feel weird saying those words. "T-Transform Me."

The warm, golden glow returned, Hanii vanished, Sabrina felt the feeling of power and stability return to her. She hadn't really noticed the second part before, but now that she was expecting this, she realized it'd always been there. The transformation gave her the feeling that things would be alright, that she could do anything. The world could explode and she'd be able to do something about it.

All right, maybe that was an exaggeration, but it still felt...reassuring.

Honeycomb pulled the feeling around her like a security blanket, opened her window, and leaped out into the city of lights.

She kept her eyes peeled for a glimpse of red or black during her nighttime stroll on the rooftops. Sometimes she swore she saw something just up ahead, or in the corner of her eye, and quickly ducked into the nearest hiding spot. She'd sit there for a second or two, not even sure herself why she was hiding, then peer back out.

But there would always be nothing.

Eventually, her walk took her to the Seine. She'd opted to avoid the Eiffel Tower for a while – since it was there that she'd been spotted, anyone looking for her would probably go that way, so it'd be best if she went somewhere else. As a further measure of safety, she sat in one of the many trees alongside it, high in the branches were no one could see her.

It wasn't as spectacular a view as the one last night, she admitted, but it was wonderful, none the less.

And there was still a great feeling of freedom and serenity all at once, just sitting on a branch, staring at the lights in the distance and how their reflections glimmered on the river's surface.

She could probably do _this_ all the time as Honeycomb. Just run around the city, seeing all the sights up close. Watch the River Seine, climb the Eiffel Tower, leap into the bell tower of the Notre Dame Cathedral, or do something more mundane like camp on the mall's roof or study on top of the city hall.

But that'd be irresponsible, wouldn't it? She'd be misusing the kwami's power and gift, and she couldn't do that.

Honeycomb chewed on her lower lip as she turned the words over and over in her head. 'Misuse the kwami's gift.' Was she misusing it already, just going out for a joy-run that night?

" _No."_

Honeycomb jumped, hands flying to her head. "H-Hanii?! Can you read my mind?"

" _No."_ Hanii's voice was a warm chuckle. _"You just said that last part out loud."_

Honeycomb wilted, face burning. "Oh..."

" _And besides, it was my idea, remember? I wanted to show you what you could feel, what you could do. And you had a great time, and you said you wanted to keep being Honeycomb. You didn't misuse me at all!"_

Honeycomb sighed and looked out at the river again, slowly kicking her legs. "I suppose not..."

" _There's more on your mind, isn't there?"_

"Yeah...I know you said we would think about fighting Akuma and stuff, and...I know the right thing to do would be to do it. I know that's why you're here, it's why Chat Noir and Ladybug's cute little kwamis are here, too." She swore she heard Hanii giggle a bit at the word 'cute' but she didn't ask. "So...so I know I'd have to eventually, but..."

" _You're afraid."_

"Terrified." Honeycomb drew in a deep breath, looking from the view to her hands. "The Akuma are _scary._ Some are worse than others, but they're scary, and sometimes it takes a really long time for Ladybug to beat them, so-" It did take a long time sometimes. Maybe Honeycomb's presence would be appreciated after all? Maybe she _could_ be a help to someone?

" _So you're afraid of facing them?"_

"Ssssort of?" Honeycomb had the nagging feeling it was only the tip of the iceberg. "I mean, I've run from plenty! I've been attacked by some!" Sort of. She barely remembered anything from Dark Cupid's attack – just fleeing and then going back for Chloé and a cold-but-burning feeling in her heart. Horrificator, though, _that_ had been terrifying. "But...but I guess I lived through them all, so..." She frowned. Now she was starting to confuse herself, saying she couldn't do it one minute and then saying she might have a chance the next.

"But to face an Akuma, I'd have to meet Ladybug. And Chat Noir. And I mean, _meet them_ meet them, not just be a civilian they protect, I'd have to walk up to them, introduce myself, get them to like me, trust me, and there's no _way_ they'd trust some stranger approaching them, there's no _way_ they'd like me, I'd-" She stopped. Realized what she was really thinking about this whole time.

Hanii said it before she could. _"You're afraid of Paris's heroes. You're afraid you'll be rejected."_

Honeycomb hesitated...and then nodded. "I think that's it," she admitted softly.

" _Why would they reject you, Sabrina? You're a great person, a lovely girl!"_

Honeycomb's eyes started to burn, the Seine blurring. "That's not true at all...You've only known me a day, Hanii. You don't know what I've done."

" _Will you tell me?"_ Hanii asked, gently.

"I've...I said before, I hurt Juleka. Chloé told me to get her out of the way because she wanted Juleka's spot in a class picture – she wanted to stand with her boyfriend. So I locked her in the bathroom." It wasn't her finest moment, but it was the first thing she'd thought of. And Chloé had been so pleased with her. "I made it so Chloé could steal Marinette's design for a contest, and it almost worked out for her – Chloé, I mean. I lied to Marinette's mom and took her diary. I heard Chloé lie to Adrien's face and I just _stood there._ He says he hates autographs and we both knew it so Chloé lied and I _let her._ Chloé told me later she'd said sorry, but I never did."

Chloé did bad things, but she _did_ always apologize later! Sometimes in pretty great ways, too, like giving Sabrina a brooch.

"I'm not a great person. There's a _reason_ no one else at school likes me – the only person who could ever tolerate me is Chloé. The _one_ other friend I had, I'd yelled at." Her heart hurt to remember. Marinette had been so _nice._ It was different than being with Chloé, kind of weird and hard to get used to, really. The atmosphere felt more relaxed, ruined only by Sabrina making the other girl uncomfortable.

Wait, no, she shouldn't think things were better without Chloé, she was her best and only friend, and she'd _just_ said she apologized a lot.

"I know it'll happen, so I'm not scared of a 'what-if.' I'm just...I don't want to endure it at all," she admitted, wiping away at the tears that had streaked past her visor. It was like getting a shot, her misery-ridden mind suggested: you knew it had to be done, it would have to happen eventually, but when you went in the doctor's office you still begged and pleaded for it to be delayed a bit, and wasn't there another way? "I'm just afraid of _how_ they'll do it, I guess..."

_I'm afraid to face them. I don't want to hurt so much when they tell me 'no,' I don't want them to see me cry when they tell me to go away..._

"I mean, I guess in the end it'll be okay because Chloé will still be there for me, but-"

" _Why do you stay with Chloé, anyway? I was with you all day, and she doesn't seem like a nice girl at all."_

"She's my only friend, remember? The only one who's willing to put up with me?"

There was a beat. _"That's not true."_

"Wha-"

" _I'm your friend, too, remember?"_

Honeycomb started. After a second, she laughed a little, smiling ruefully. "That's true," she admitted. "Sorry, I nearly forgot about you."

" _Haha! If you give me another rose petal before we go home tonight, I'll forgive you,"_ Hanii teased.

"Deal."

After that, neither said anything for a good five more minutes. Honeycomb felt her mood lifted considerably by Hanii's words, and leaned against the trunk of the tree. It was a small thing, she realized, but it still helped.

Hanii was her friend.

She had two friends. Hanii liked her.

That...that was great. That was really great.

" _And hey, Honeycomb?"_

"Hm?"

" _I promise, they'll be your friends, too. You just need to relax and have some faith, that's all."_

Honeycomb felt her mood dampen a little, but not enough to make her completely upset again. It was more anxious and concerned than anything. "It's easier said than done, Hanii."

" _I know, but now that they know about your presence, you have to try. Please?_

 _The longer you put it off, the worse it will feel for you,"_ she added wisely.

* * *

By four in the morning, Sabrina was still thinking about those words, lying awake in her bed. She'd returned only an hour ago, when she noticed the time on a nearby clock and had hurried home. But she was unable to fall asleep, even after changing into her favorite pajamas and crawling under the blanket. Hanii was already asleep, curled up on the pillow next to her head with a half-eaten rose petal under a tiny hand. Tiny, adorable snores flowed from her mouth, making Sabrina smile affectionately.

Her friend was cute.

Her _friend_ was cute.

On a whim, Sabrina reached for her phone, accessing the Ladyblog. A few more threads had popped up, including a few photos taken from Honeycomb's frantic leaping-on-top-of-things trip home. They weren't very good, as Honeycomb had only stilled for half a second before leaping to the next roof or light post, but they were clearer and she was closer. So this time more details could be made out.

People were pointing out her outfit; the stripes, the color scheme, the gently-shifting wings at her back. A lot of people were already – correctly – guessing she was a bee after all.

Some people still thought she was a new villain, though...the thought made her a little sick.

Just one more reason to actually find Ladybug and Chat Noir and introduce herself properly, she supposed. At least she could tell _them_ she meant no harm.

...even if they didn't want her around, it'd still be worth it just to not have them as her enemies, she realized. Even if they could not be friends, they could at least be...what, acquaintances? Allies that don't interact?

She'd be willing to take that.

Sabrina closed the blog, rubbing her eyes tiredly. She had to go to sleep right about now, or else she'd be a mess at school tomorrow. And she should probably get up early anyway, so she could find a tutorial on putting in a hair comb. The headband had worked well enough, but she knew it wasn't how you were supposed to do it, and it did feel pretty awkward at first.

Tomorrow...

Sabrina rolled onto her side so she was facing Hanii's sleeping form. One hand lifted to gently cover the kwami's body like a blanket; feeling Hanii beside her was comforting already. And Hanii would still be there when she approached the heroes of Paris tomorrow night – it had to be then.

Tomorrow was going to be an eventful day, Sabrina thought as her eyes closed and her breathing evened out. And in seconds flat, she was sound asleep...

...completely forgetting about the homework she had yet to even start.

* * *

" _I got a picture with her head in it. She's got something in her hair, do you see it?"_

" _It looks gold to me."_

" _The picture's too blurry, does anyone have something higher-res?"_

" _I do! [ friendorfoe. png]"_

" _It looks like a hair comb. Or maybe it's a barrette, little hard to tell because she's moving."_

" _I can sort of make out a shape. Is that a bee?"_

" _Here, I've red-lined it and yeah, that's totally a bee. It's cute, too, I'm gonna make one for myself!"_

" _Me too, me too!"_

" _A girl at my school was wearing one this morning. But it looks different somehow, and she didn't even put it in right, so she probably made her own replica or something. Mine's gonna look way better."_

" _When do you think she'll actually go public?"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The comment about studying on city hall is a shameless nod to thelastpilot's Won't Tell A Soul.


	4. What Makes You Different (Makes You Beautiful)

In the end, though, Sabrina only really got an hour of sleep before school.

Come five am, she was at her desk with its lamp on low to avoid disturbing Hanii, her pencil moving frantically across the notebook pages. Every now and then she looked at the time, trying to work quickly but perfectly at the same time.

She guessed it was lucky that there wasn't _too_ much homework for the day...

Sabrina huffed loudly, resting her forehead on her palm as she worked on the math sheet. She couldn't keep doing this. It'd only been, what, two days? Two days, yeah, and she already knew she couldn't do this.

She couldn't keep blowing off Chloé's homework. She couldn't go on nightly runs every night, come home in the earliest hours of the morning, either leave Chloé's homework undone or hurry to finish it before school, go to school, hang out with Chloé...

She couldn't do this.

This sucked.

She'd been managing Chloé's homework just fine before Hanii showed up and encouraged her to go out into the night like this-

Sabrina startled, dropping her pencil. Wait, what was she _thinking,_ blaming Hanii? It was her own fault, she was the one who'd agreed to it. And she'd been the one who had gone out the night before, of her own volition! Hanii had nothing to do with it.

 _But,_ said her sleep-deprived brain, _if you didn't have Hanii or the Miraculous, you wouldn't have gone out the first time to begin with. Or had the means to go a second time._

Sabrina bit back a groan as she looked at the clock. She still had about an hour to get this done. She could do this. She could do this.

She picked up the pencil and began frantically writing again, trying to solve for x.

 

* * *

 

 

Her alarm sounded just as she put the pencil down. Sabrina walked to her nightstand and hit the reset button, sighing in relief and satisfaction. She'd _done_ it.

True, she'd had to skip doing her own homework, but it was a small sacrifice. Her grades could take a day of missed work, Chloé's could not.

Well, technically Chloé's grades were her grades too but. Yeah. Chloé couldn't slip. Sabrina would be happy enough with a few less points in her GPA.

But the point was, she had managed it! All she had to do was hand it to Chloé and...

...try not to fall asleep in class the rest of the day.

Sabrina felt like crying as she gathered her school supplies. She could probably wash up and give her hair a quick brushing, but it wouldn't help the heavy as hell feeling in her eyelids, or the dizziness. And she very well couldn't fall asleep in class, not being in the front row.

Ugh, she was _never_ doing this aga-

"You weren't asleep." A sweet, warm voice spoke up, but it didn't sound as warm as usual.

Sabrina turned to see Hanii, very much awake, and very angry-looking, hovering above her bed with her little arms folded. The bee kwami tilted her head. "You were up even later, weren't you?"

Sabrina suddenly felt a rush of hot anger pierce her exhaustion. "Why didn't you notice earlier?" she asked without thinking.

"I did notice. But you didn't look like you would respond to me even if I did try to get you to go back to bed." As upset as Hanii sounded, she never once raised her voice. She didn't even lower it dangerously. It was a little disarming, Sabrina realized. "Sabrina, you know this isn't good for you."

"What? Staying up late every night? Yeah, I know," Sabrina snapped. She wasn't the type to get really angry, usually, but her lack of sleep was making her say strange things.

Hanii blinked, apparently taken off-guard. Then she regained her bearings, and shook her head. "No, I mean it's bad for you to push yourself like this! You don't have to do anyone else's work but your own, you know. That Chloé girl can stand to learn a thing or two about doing her own work, and you can't exhaust yourself like this. You look _awful,_ Sabrina, and this is only one day! Imagine what will happen to you if you keep doing this the _entire_ time you're Honeycomb – and that can be _years and years!"_

For some reason, Sabrina's tired brain latched onto the "you look awful" part. Angry, exhausted, desperate tears sprung to her eyes. "Now you're insulting my looks?!" she snapped, looping her bag over her shoulders with more force than she needed to. "I didn't know you were that petty!"

"That's _not_ what I meant. You have dark circles around your eyes, you're pale, shaking, your hair isn't brushed properly and you look _terrified!_ You look like you're expecting something to eat you any second!" Hanii flew over to her trembling Chosen, hands going to Sabrina's nose. "Sabrina, I'm asking you as your friend: _please_ stop doing this."

"Stop being Honeycomb? Because that's the only reason I'm like this at all right now!" Sabrina yelled.

Hanii drew back, eyes wide in alarm.

" _You're_ the one who got me staying out all night, _you're_ the one who led me to forget Chloé's homework the first time, _you're_ the one who gave me powers and a suit so I would go out last night and forget _this_ homework, _it's because of you, okay?_ I was doing just fine before you and the comb showed up!"

"Sabrina...Sabrina, that isn't true-"

"Yes it is! It's your fault, Hanii, okay?" Sabrina just kept yelling without meaning to. She was just so tired, her filter was completely gone and she wasn't able to think properly. All she could think was: _Chloé, BFF, homework, late to school, go to school, Honeycomb, Hanii-_

"Now – Now I have to go school! You're not making me miss Chloé today!" Sabrina yelled over her shoulder as she hurried out her bedroom door.

Hanii wordlessly zipped into Sabrina's still-open schoolbag, sitting quietly in the dark. She had no response to Sabrina's rant.

…she did, however, note something very important, something that still let her know she was wanted after all.

Sabrina was still wearing the comb. Not once did she rip it out in anger. And Hanii was still _there._

As for Sabrina, it took a little longer than usual for her to get to Chloé. Her chest felt a little too tight, and her limbs a little funny, like they weren't really there. The sidewalk didn't want to stay level, and she couldn't make any sudden turns without feeling a rush of dizziness. She ended up having to slow herself down, grab the side of the building, and close her eyes for a second so she could actually _keep going._

 _Ugh,_ she was really starting to regret not catching an extra few seconds of sleep...But then, finally, she spotted a fuzzy yellow spot in the distance, near the school, and that made it all worth it. With a sigh of relief, Sabrina let go of another wall and approached the yellow spot.

Chloé stood with her back to Sabrina, but Sabrina could tell she heard her coming. Her shoulders stiffened slightly as Sabrina drew nearer, and she turned around to face her. Sabrina could see her brows were lowered as they usually were when they hung out, and her lip was already curling a bit-

But that was replaced by a look of wide-eyed horror in an instant. "What happened to _you?!"_

Sabrina smiled, feeling her facial muscles protesting but not entirely caring. "Nothing, I'm fine," she said.

"No, you're _not!"_ Chloé gestured roughly at her for emphasis. "Look at yourself! You looked _fine_ last night and now you're- look!" With that, Chloé reached into her purse and pulled out a compact mirror. The lid flipped up and Sabrina got a good look at her face for the first time that morning.

Hanii had been right; there _were_ dark circles around her eyes. Her skin was pale, her hair was an unkempt mess, and she honestly looked like death warmed over. Sabrina blinked, a little concerned about the fact that her reflection seemed to be doubling.

"What did you _do_ last night?!" Chloé went on, and for a split-second Sabrina was terrified she'd figured out her secret. But then she kept talking. "Did you not eat? Not sleep? How'd you manage to make yourself even sicker?!"

Sabrina smiled a little more – and probably looked a little addled in the process, she dimly realized. But she couldn't help it, she was just so happy to have Chloé worried about her. Oh, right, and speaking of Chloé... She reached into her bag to hand Chloé the single copy of homework, ignoring how Chloé just airily took it without a thanks.

"I don't know...I guess it wasn't all out of my system?" she weakly answered as the two continued to class. Huh. The hallway seemed to be wobbling today. Something must have been wrong with the floorboards. "I'll be okay, Chloé, really!"

Chloé frowned. "You better be – Mme Bustier said she'd show us notes that would be on the test...And we had plans for today! Sabrina, you're _never_ sick, _never!_ What will I do if you are?"

"I can manage! I'll just..." Sabrina blinked hard as they entered the classroom and moved towards their seats. "I'll just..."

Did Mme Bustier change her lights? The classroom seemed rather dim today. And she was pretty sure she felt an earthquake coming on; the floor was starting to tip. They all had better duck and cover. Sabrina was about halfway to her seat when things suddenly went black.

"...brina, can you hear me? Kim, put her feet up - _Sabrina!"_

Sabrina blinked, confused.

The lights had suddenly come back on, but somehow in the split-second between the apparent power outage and now, she'd ended up on her back on the floor next to her desk. She could see Mme Bustier leaning over her with a look of concern, some of her classmates standing behind her. And, oddly enough, she somehow had a lot more clarity and focus than she did a second ago. Not a lot, but a noticeable amount.

It was when she registered the pain in her arm and shoulder a second later that she realized what had happened.

There was no power outage.

She'd _fainted._

"Stay back, everyone, stay back," Mme Bustier said as she glanced at the others. "Give her some air – Sabrina, can you hear me?"

"Y-Yeah..." Sabrina said quietly, feeling her face heat up.

"Do you know what happened? Do you know where you are?"

"I'm at school and I passed out?" Ugh, she felt so _stupid_ saying that out loud.

Her teacher nodded solemnly. "Do you feel nauseous? Dizzy?" As Mme Bustier was saying that, another adult came into view, someone Sabrina recognized as the school nurse.

And then she had a pretty good idea of how the next few minutes were going to go.

 

* * *

 

 

Ten minutes later, Sabrina was sitting in the passenger seat of her father's car, on her way back home, the weekend's homework sitting in her bag. Just as she thought she would.

Her father was tapping his fingers anxiously against the steering wheel, glancing at Sabrina in the mirror every now and then. "Sabrina," he said at last, her name coming out in a heavy exhale. "Were you feeling bad when you woke up this morning?"

"I wasn't feeling _bad_ ," Sabrina said. "I was just tired..."

" _How_ tired?" Lt Roger raised his eyebrows, using his 'police stare' on his daughter.

Sabrina cringed slightly. "Well- I was a little dizzy, I guess." In the mirror, she saw her father's brows rise higher. "Er...I suppose the walk to school was a little difficult?"

Her father sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Sabrina...you know if you ever don't feel well, you can stay home. You don't _need_ to force yourself to go to school if you feel sick."

"But I didn't feel sick, I felt tired," she mumbled meekly, as if that would change things.

"You _fainted,_ Sabrina! The nurse told me that it looked like over-exhaustion and you shouldn't be in school at all today. That counts as 'not feeling well!'" Her dad sighed, realizing he'd raised his voice for a second. They pulled up in front of the apartment building just then. He got out first and walked around just as Sabrina got out of the car, placing his hand on her shoulder to keep her steady. Before she could protest that she didn't need it, he said "I'm going to walk with you into the apartment, and you're going to stay at home and sleep, okay?"

"Yes, Dad."

"Now that I think it, maybe I should stay at home too-"

"No!" Sabrina gasped, looking up at her dad with wide eyes. "No, Dad, you can't miss work!" Brief as it was, his being fired was still fresh in their minds, and not _just_ because he'd been Akuma-tized. Sabrina didn't want him missing a day on her account and potentially getting fired _again._ "All I need is sleep and I'll be fine! You don't need to stay with he, I'll be unconscious the whole time anyway!" she hastily added. They stopped in front of the elevator doors, Sabrina walking in front of him in a pitiful attempt to block him from joining her. " _Please,_ Dad?"

Sabrina knew that he knew why she was reacting like this, even without her saying so. For a long moment, the two of them just stared at each other; Sabrina with desperation and her hands clasped in a pleading gesture, and Lt Roger with a mixture of concern and indecision. She noticed some movements that meant he was chewing the inside of his cheek as he looked first at her, then at his watch, then her again...

And then he sighed and knelt down, putting one hand on her shoulder.

"You go to your room and you go to _sleep._ Okay?"

Sabrina released the breath she was holding, then nodded. "I will. Promise."

The elevator reached their floor and opened just then, giving Lt Roger just enough time to kiss her forehead, wish her pleasant dreams, and and send her off. Sabrina managed to wave at him before the doors closed again and she was taken upstairs. After that there was really nothing else to it; she got off on the right floor, pulled her keys from her bag, went inside and locked up, and reached her room. She had just enough energy left to deposit her bag on the floor by the shelf and nudge her shoes off before she collapsed on top of her bed, not even getting undressed or crawling under the covers.

Five seconds later, she fell into a dreamless sleep.

 

* * *

 

 

The sun was setting when she woke up, bathing her room in bright orange and gold. Sabrina blinked slowly, taking a few seconds to make sure she actually felt awake. She felt...weird. Oh, she felt awake and refreshed, of course, but it was a little disturbing to wake up at sunset. She almost felt lazy.

She'd have to fix this before she went back to school, she realized as she slowly sat up and rubbed the sleepies out of her eyes. It was a good thing the next day was a day off.

Maybe she could stay up a little late tonight – not til four or five again, certainly not, but... Well, if she made sure to wake up around ten in the morning, give herself some time for her shopping date with Chloé. And as long as she got at least six hours of sleep, she'd be fine... This would be an easy fix.

All she had to do was not stay awake _too_ long as Honeycomb and-

Sabrina froze, feeling cold all of a sudden.

She realized that Hanii had been dead silent the whole time.

In a panic, Sabrina flew off the bed and crashed into her shelf. Pierre nearly fell over from the resulting rattle, but Sabrina didn't care.

She grabbed her bag and threw it open. No kwami.

She pawed frantically through her books and papers. No kwami.

She grabbed the bag and actually _flipped it upside-down,_ shaking everything out. Paper, books, pencils, notebooks all fell to the ground in a clattering, rustling heap.

But no kwami.

Hanii was gone.

Sabrina felt all the energy leave her, and her bag slipped from her fingers to fall to the floor. She stared at the ground, her vision starting to blur all of a sudden. A blink and her eyes stung. She swallowed, closing her eyes. No...No, she would not cry. She would not...

" _It's your fault, Hanii, okay? Now – Now I have to go school! You're not making me miss Chloé today!"_

She'd said such awful things to Hanii...it was her fault, she _deserved_ Hanii leaving her, she _deserved_ to lose the right to be Honeycomb, she was an _awful_ friend, she was _horrible,_ she had no _right_ to cry...

Despite herself, a faint sob escaped her throat. And then another, and another, and in just a few seconds, Sabrina was lifting her hands to frantically wipe away the tears that were streaming down her face. She sobbed quietly, shoulders shaking and chest tight, feeling like the worst thing on the face of the earth. She'd been so horrible! She'd lost her second friend in the world! Chloé was right – Sabrina would only _ever_ have her for a friend.

And she was lucky _Chloé_ even stuck around, because she was horrible, she said terrible things, she-

"Sabrina?"

With a gasp, Sabrina jerked her head back up, staring in wide-eyed disbelief.

Hanii hovered in the open door, a few petals from the vase in the living room clasped in her bitty arms. "You're awake! I was just getting a snack myself so I wouldn't disturb yo- eep!" The petals gently fluttered to the floor as Sabrina snatched Hanii out of the air and held her to her face, nuzzling and sobbing at the same time.

The kwami just sat there in stunned disbelief, until she heard what Sabrina was whispering between sobs. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm sorry..."

"H-Hey now!" Hanii cried. "Whatever are you sorry _for?"_

Sabrina hiccuped. "I'm sorry I'm such a bad friend," she said automatically. "I'm sorry I made you angry, I'm sorry I yelled at you, I'm sorry I'm so terrible, I-"

"What – no! Hey, stop now, come on, no more tears, none of that now!" Hanii shifted around so she could properly look at Sabrina, eyes narrowed slightly with worry and something else. "You are not a bad friend and you are not awful, don't say those things now, come on."

"B-But-"

"You were angry, and you were very tired. You said things without thinking and you regret saying them now. That's all."

Sabrina just stared. This...this was too easy, wasn't it?

Hanii continued, her voice growing softer as if to soothe Sabrina. "And honestly, I was doing some thinking while you napped, and you have a very good point. As your kwami, it's my responsibility to take care of you, make sure you're safe and healthy. And I should have told you to go home, get some sleep...I shouldn't have allowed you to stay out as late as I have."

"It's not your fault!" Sabrina cried. "I was the one who-"

"Sabrina. Please." Hanii rested her hands on Sabrina's own. "We're both sorry, right?"

"R-Right..."

"So there's no more reason to dwell on this. We'll just be more careful in the future about how late we stay out. I think there are a few things we should still work on, like planning homework," her voice went lower at that part, for some reason, "but we'll do better from now on. Besides..." She smiled and zipped out of Sabrina's hands, tapping the comb Sabrina had, in her panic, honestly forgotten was still in her hair. "You still have the Bee Comb, and I'm still here, so I knew you still wanted me around. I wasn't mad, it's be okay!"

Sabrina just stared. It...no. No way was it that easy. "Do you want extra rose petals? A present?"

"Hm?"

"I mean..." Sabrina faltered, trying to word her feelings. "I mean, when Chloé and I fight..." It was never this easy with Chloé. There was no way Hanii had already forgiven her, no way Hanii would just accept some of the blame and move on. If it was _Chloé_ , Sabrina would have had to grovel a bit first. And then Chloé would have to take a day or two to think about whether she forgave her or not.

Her hand went to the brooch on her vest absentmindedly. "I could get you a cake from the Dupain-Chengs' bakery. Or anything else you want in exchange, or-"

"Sabrina." Hanii was suddenly in front of Sabrina's face, looking quite stern with her arms folded in front of herself. "This isn't a fight, and I'm not Chloé. I'm not angry, you're not angry, now everything is fine. Simple as that. That's how it _should_ be," she added in a stronger voice than before.

Sabrina blinked, taken aback and more than a little confused. But it was a good kind of confused, she thought. Like...confused but relieved and happy all at once?

It was weird. This was a weird mix of emotions.

"I thought you'd left me because of this..." she finally muttered, unsure herself of why she was saying it.

Hanii smiled warmly, leaned forward and bopped her head against Sabrina's nose. "I won't leave you, Sabrina. Not unless you _truly_ want me to." As Sabrina's vision threatened to blur again, Hanii floated backwards, smiling brightly still. "Now then! Since you're awake, I think the first thing we ought to do is get your face washed, and get you some food! I know for a fact you haven't eaten all day!"

Her father hadn't come home yet, so Sabrina was able to take Hanii into the kitchen without worry. She found some leftover Chinese take-out in the fridge, only three days old. If she just microwaved it for a few minutes it'd be perfectly edible. That was probably the _one_ thing she disagreed with Chloé about.

She ate in front of the TV, where the coffee table – and most importantly, the vase of flowers – was. Neither she nor Hanii spoke much during dinner, which was probably needed after earlier. Hanii was perfectly content to sit on the couch next to Sabrina (looking comically tiny in the center of the couch cushion) while they ate.

Sabrina took the chance to check her phone for messages while she ate her beef chow fun.

There was a text from her dad, telling her he'd be home late-ish and that he hadn't told her mother about what'd happened but if it happened again, he surely would. That was the only one.

Of course there was nothing from Chloé, but that was okay, she was a very busy girl and she couldn't be expected to check in on Sabrina constantly after all! And they'd see each other the next day, so it didn't even matter.

There were no other texts. No one else had her number.

 

* * *

 

 

" _Chloé, look what Dad got me for Christmas!"_

" _Huh. Give me your number."_

" _Oh, sure! And here, I'll put your number in mine...Okay, there! Oh, this is so exciting, I've never had my own phone before!"_

" _Yeah, I can tell. Nobody gets_ _ ** **this**** excited over a lamer model."_

" _Ahaha...But it's a_ _phone, very own **phone!** I can't wait to show everyone in class later! Maybe I can get their numbers, too – uh, what's wrong, Chloé?"_

" _Oh, Sabrina, Sabrina, Sabrina...why on_ _ ** **earth**** would any of them want your number?"_

" _Oh...I - I just thought-"_

" _You know they'd never call or text you anyway – I'm your only friend, remember? If you got their numbers you'd only be wasting memory, and they'd probably just delete yours right after. You'd be wasting your time, trust me."_

" _...oh...I – I guess you're right. Thanks, Chloé, you really saved me!"_

 

* * *

 

 

Sabrina frowned as she lowered her phone back to the couch. Why was she remembering that, of all things? It was like, _two_ years ago.

"Are you okay?"

Sabrina jumped at the sudden voice, looked down to see Hanii watching her with concern. She held a half-eaten rose petal between her hands, glancing between Sabrina's half-empty box of food and her face.

"You haven't eaten a bite in the past two minutes. Are you sick?"

"N-No," Sabrina said, shaking her head and looking away. Absently, her hand strayed to the brooch for the second time that day.

She forced herself to pick up her plastic fork and take another bite of beef, which much to her dismay had gotten a little cold. "I was just thinking... I really am sorry for snapping at you like that, I really am."

"It's all right, you don't need to worry about it anymore, just like I said! And," Hanii added solemnly, "if you'd like to stay in tonight, not transform, that'd be all right, too. It's been a stressful few days for you, so if you'd prefer a day off-"

"No!" Sabrina cried, hand flying to the comb in her hair. No, she couldn't skip a day, not after what'd happened earlier. If she didn't transform... Well, it was irrational, she had to admit, and it didn't make much sense to her, but she couldn't help but feel that if she stayed in today, something would happen. Not to Paris, but to herself – in her head, or maybe her heart.

And even if it'd only been a few days, she'd already noticed that transforming and taking a walk/leap around Paris at night was the _only_ time lately she felt happy or safe or free. Without worrying about upsetting Chloé, or anyone else for that matter.

And besides, after yelling at Hanii, after making up with her, after being terrified and despairing that Hanii might've left her forever because of it... She _needed_ to transform, just to know that this wasn't a dream. Just to know she still had her second friend and things were still okay.

She heard Hanii speak up then. "Well, okay, if you're sure."

"I am!" she said with a relieved smile, and she felt herself relax at Hanii's own smile. So that settled it. Things were still okay.

Hm, she still had a nagging feeling she was forgetting something...

"And if we're going out today, you can finally meet up with your new allies!"

The beef chow fun suddenly wasn't sitting very well in her stomach, and not because of age.

 

* * *

 

 

"Hanii, I'm scared..."

"It'll be okay, Sabrina, I promise."

"Maybe...maybe I shouldn't do this!"

"Sabrina, you can't avoid them forever...one day you'll have to meet, and it'll be much easier on your nerves if you do it sooner than later."

Sabrina stood in the middle of her room at ten o'clock that night, twisting her hands around themselves. She shifted from foot to foot, adjusting her glasses as she looked around for any other possible distraction. There wasn't a lot left.

After she'd finished dinner, she'd thrown out the take-out carton and utensil, then took out the trash. Then she washed the dishes, turned off the TV, and got a head-start on the homework due the next school day. Then she'd texted her father to say she was all right and would be asleep so he didn't need to check on her, and texted Chloé to give the same news. She'd given Pierre some extra - probably unnecessary - spritzes of water, washed her face and brushed her teeth, combed her hair, reapplied her favorite pink lipstick, organized her bookshelf, checked the Ladyblog for updates or any interesting forum topics...

And it was after she openly considered dusting her bedroom that Hanii began gently tugging on her hair to get her attention, telling her she was putting it off long enough.

Now she stood there, trying to take a deep breath. "M-Maybe we won't even meet today. We didn't the other times-"

"Sabrina, you were _hiding_ last night," Hanii reminded her with a bit of amusement. But Sabrina could tell, Hanii wasn't laughing at _her._ She wasn't sure how, she just did. "Just breathe. It'll be okay, I promise!"

"They won't like me. No one but Chloé does."

"You can't _say_ that, dear...Please, at least try. It'll be like the first time you transformed – I promise that if things go wrong, or you don't get along, I'll never ask you to meet them again!"

Sabrina stood there, still wringing her hands. She wasn't sure what she wanted really. Part of her wanted to run away and hide some more, or to stay in. But another part of her _did_ want to meet Paris's proper heroes – on a personal level, not just as a terrified civilian, or a freed Akuma. Who wouldn't have wanted that? But she was just so _scared,_ and sick, and oh God, Chloé was her only friend for a _reason,_ she didn't know how to make new friends, she didn't _have_ any other friends, the _one_ time she thought she was making a friend in Marinette she'd thoroughly ruined everything, no one liked her-

Suddenly, she glanced sidelong at Hanii, who just hovered there expectantly, the lights from the window illuminating her profile.

...Hanii liked her.

Hanii was her friend.

She had Hanii... It'd be fine.

Now if only she could actually _convince_ herself of that.

"O-Okay...Hanii, _transform me!"_ Sabrina kept her eyes open this time as the light washed over her, quick as it was. She glanced down at herself, smiling a little as she saw her pajamas replaced by her costume.

"I-It's a little disappointing that it's so fast," Honeycomb admitted as she opened her window and climbed the fire escape again. "It would've been neat to have some kind of choreography. Like, maybe something out of Angel's Friends, I've always kinda liked Raf's transformation, maybe mine could look like that."

She reached the rooftop and stopped to stretch her arms in front of herself, staring thoughtfully into the skyline. "Wait, no, those transformations are too simple... Maybe I'd have something like Bunny Rivère's transformation, when she becomes Sailor Moon?"

" _Bunny?"_

"Oh, I'll have to show you some day, maybe right now if you're-"

" _Honeycomb, you're starting to ramble, dear."_

"...I'm just nervous is all," she admitted slowly.

" _I know. But it's all right; I'm here with you, remember."_

"I know. Thank you," Honeycomb added before leaping off the roof. She might as well get going, no matter how much her stomach was doing back-flips. And if she had to do that, she ought to get to a more busy part of the city. Or just far away from her apartment – she'd have a heart attack if Ladybug knew where she _lived._

 

* * *

 

 

Honeycomb nearly forgot about her anxieties as she raced across the rooftops again.

No matter how bad her day was, these nights were quickly becoming the best parts of them. As before, she could forget everything, she could feel free, she could enjoy the wind at her face and ruffling her hair. She could still enjoy the lights against the dark sky. She could still enjoy having her own private world, where no one knew she was plain, boring, mousy Sabrina.

This time she enjoyed it even more, after her scare earlier.

She even stopped thinking about the fact that more people could see her now, in the slightly-earlier hour.

About twenty minutes later she sat cross-legged atop the art museum, in the center of the roof.

Honeycomb removed the hexagonal thing from her hip; it detached like a magnet, so maybe it _was_ magic that held it in place? She held it out at arm's length in both hands, turning it this way and that, squinting one eye closed as she looked. "So what _is_ this, Hanii? I don't think you told me about it."

" _That's your weapon – it's a wand. It's also a phone,"_ Hanii's voice came, as casually as if she were saying _It might rain tomorrow._

"This thing's a _phone?_ It's a _wand?"_ Honeycomb asked, eyes growing wide. How on earth was it a wand? There was no handle or anything, it was just a _thing._ And a phone, what...Well, okay, when she looked closer she thought she could see a little line near the edge of the depression. "So...so how does it work? Do I have to hold it to my ear, do I tap the front like a smart phone, or-"

" _There_ you are!"

 **" _ **AAAAAAH!"**_** Honeycomb shrieked at the top of her lungs, jumping to her feet and whirling around, raising the honeycomb-shaped thing as if to bludgeon her attacker with it.

" _Whoa!"_ He leaned back, hands in front of himself at chest-level – obviously startled but somehow still smiling. Like this is a little bit funny. "Easy – it's okay!"

Honeycomb stared in wide-eyed horror, frozen in place. Her face felt hot, and her spine felt freezing cold as her brain sorta _clicked_ what was happening into place.

And then she felt like an idiot.

Dear God, she'd almost _bludgeoned Chat Noir!_

Before she could say or do anything – like start apologizing a mile a minute, or actually _putting her hexagon back down –_ there was a faint thumping sound near them, and _oh God, there was Ladybug!_

"I heard screaming, wha – oh, he found you!"

Honeycomb just stood there, gaping. She slowly lowered the hexagon, bringing it tight against her chest like a shield. All she could do was stare with wide eyes, a pounding heart, and a burning face.

_Oh my God it's Ladybug and Chat Noir. Oh my God it's them oh my God OH NO, HE HEARD ME TALKING TO MYSELF HE THINKS I'M CRAZY ** **OH NO SHE SAW ME ABOUT TO HIT HER PARTNER ON THE HEAD SHE'LL HATE ME THEY MUST THINK I'M AWFUL****_

"Hey..."

" _Yes?!"_ Honeycomb cried out in a high-pitched squeak. She winced at the sound of her own voice, fingers tightening on her hexagon. "Y-Yes, Ladybug – oh listen, I didn't mean to – I wasn't going to hurt him, I promise, I – he snuck up on me! I mean, not that I'm blaming him of course it's not his fault, it's mine, I-"

" _Hey..."_ Ladybug interrupted in a softer voice. She reached out for Honeycomb...

Honeycomb tensed up, eyes shut.

..and then opened them again when she felt Ladybug's hand gently touch her shoulder.

Paris's heroes were looking at her with more serious expressions – Chat wasn't smiling anymore. The two of them glanced at each other and then back at Honeycomb, and she could see the way Ladybug's brows knitted together, the slight alarm in both their eyes – and then she felt even worse. Oh, no, she'd upset them, she'd done something wrong again, she hadn't even _said_ anything-

Wait no, she had said something, and it was the worst thing she could ever have-

"We don't bite," Chat Noir said gently, breaking her panicked thoughts.

Honeycomb tried to nod, but all that happened was her head barely inclined and she let out a muffled squeak. And then she felt her face burn even hotter. She was _really_ making a good impression on Paris's heroes and celebrities, wasn't she?

Another shared glance, and then Ladybug was talking to her and gently moving her into a sitting position. But Honeycomb didn't hear what she said, too busy berating herself. Why was this so difficult?! It was fine when she was a civilian, she barely spoke to them outside a plea for help anyway, but now...Now it was so much harder all of a sudden. Because now she had to actually try to speak to them as equals, had to convince them she wasn't a villain, she was-

" _Honeycomb."_ Hanii's voice cut in, making her jump and catch their attention even further. _"Breathe...it's okay..."_

"E-Easy for you to say..." she mumbled, hugging her hexagon to her chest.

"What?"

"Ah!" Honeycomb yelped and tensed up, turning redder as she realized she was sitting between Ladybug and Chat. How had _that_ happened?! "I – I was – Nice to meet you, really nice to meet you – I was talking to Hanii, she said-" She stopped suddenly realizing that there was no one else here, not that they could see. Oh, no, they really _would_ think she was crazy!

But Ladybug just smiled, looking a little relieved. "Oh, your kwami!" she said.

Honeycomb blinked. Oh, right...she'd forgotten that Hanii had mentioned the heroes had things like her, too.

"Well, that answers one question," Ladybug muttered under her breath. "If you've got a kwami, you're the real thing."

Honeycomb blinked again. The real thing? What did that mean? Were there fake heroes too?

"What's your-"

" _Yes?!"_ Okay, she really needed to stop yelping and panicking... It wasn't a good impression, and they'd get annoyed with her in no time.

But Chat Noir just got a funny sort of smile – like she could practically _hear_ him thinking about how jumpy she was – and started again, in a gentler voice. "What's your name? When you're in the costume," he clarified.

"H-Honeycomb..."

"' _Comb?'_ Not 'bee?'" Ladybug asked, sounding surprised. "I mean, not that there's anything _wrong_ with that, that's not a bad name at all, but I thought for sure-"

"I-It's okay," Honeycomb mumbled, looking down at her hexagon again. "I k-kind of thought the same thing."

This wasn't happening, was it? She wasn't really sitting on a roof, talking with Ladybug and Chat Noir like this was 'get to know you' exercises at school, was she?

"I think it's cute!"

"Because it's a pun and she has a comb in her hair."

"So?"

"Hey, uh..." Honeycomb nervously began, jumping slightly when they both looked at her. Ohhhh, she needed to stop _doing_ that. "I uhm... I'm sorry I never uh- I'm sorry I never did anything!"

Blink. "What?" Ladybug asked.

Well, it had seemed like a great place to start. Get it out of the way before she made them upset. "I mean," she began, voice faltering. "I'm sorry all I did was show up and then never do anything. I bet you thought I was nothing but a big show-off or a coward or-"

" _Whoa, hey!"_ Ladybug interrupted, sounding a little startled. "Yikes, calm _down,_ Honeycomb."

It felt so weird to hear Ladybug saying her name.

"We never thought that!"

What.

Honeycomb looked back and forth between them again, disbelieving. But they both looked dead serious, if not a little concerned and confused.

Which honestly confused her even more. Why did they look at her like that?

"Well, we were kinda surprised to see you on the video," Chat Noir explained with a light shrug. "Especially when there weren't any Akuma right after. But we never thought that about you!"

"Honestly, at first I thought you might be a – just passing through," Ladybug said, her words getting funny near the end, like she'd had to stop herself and say something else. "Then you showed up again yesterday..."

Oh...yeah, she had seen some of those photos.

"So we figured you must be sticking around, and tried to find you." She shrugged, smiling slightly. "And here you are."

"Y-Yup!"

Honeycomb thought she heard Chat Noir whispering "Hey, _relax_ " to her, but it might have just been the wind.

"Are you new at this?" That time she definitely knew he'd asked.

"Yeah," she admitted. "I got my Miraculous – that's what she said it was?" At the duo's nodding, she went on: "I got it a few days ago. I didn't know how to do anything – I still don't – so all I did was just walk around and take some leaps, and..." She curled further into herself. "You probably think that's really irresponsible and terrible of me..."

"What? No, of course not, hey!" Ladybug cut in. She reached for Honeycomb's shoulder again, squeezing lightly. "Hey, we don't expect anyone with a Miraculous to just – just immediately run into a fight the first thing. And we just said nothing had been happening, so what could you even do?"

"I dunno...stop a robber?"

"On your own? On your first night?" Chat Noir said with a raised eyebrow.

Honeycomb said nothing.

"You wanna know a secret?" he said suddenly, voice lowered.

"What?"

The look on his face was dead serious, and when he spoke, he kept his voice at a dramatic-sounding whisper. "You can't tell _anybody_ this, but..." He leaned forward slightly, a hand cupped around his mouth. "Ladybug and I didn't know what we were doing the first time either."

Honeycomb blinked. "But...but you got rid of Stoneheart-"

"On the second try," Ladybug said with a bit of a snort. "And before he even showed up, neither of us knew what we were doing – okay, we were told what our powers were," she admitted, "but that was it. You didn't see me try to use the yo-yo for the first time. If you did, you probably wouldn't be beating yourself up right now." A pause. "For what it's worth, you do know what your power is at least, right?"

"Healing and...restoration? Yeah."

Ladybug frowned for a second before shrugging. What was that about? "So no big deal. You're just like us."

Honeycomb's eyes widened for the umpteenth time that day. Just like them? She was...like them? No, no way, they could never have been as bungling and clueless as her. She had to be far worse. She _had_ to be!

But Ladybug sounded so confident when she said that. And Chat Noir had said it himself earlier, too. And even now, Honeycomb could hear them talking to each other over her head ( _"Remember when you tied me up on accident?" "Oh my God...")_ and the tones of their voices let her know they weren't lying to make her feel better. They weren't kidding around...

...and they weren't hating her or anything. They were being...

Really nice, actually.

It was so _weird._

"So," Chat Noir said suddenly. "Feel any better?"

"Yeah," she said, surprised at herself to find she meant it.

"Anything you want to know about?"

"Uhm...Yeah, do we deal more with Akuma or people criminals?"

"Well, sometimes..."

Honeycomb lost track of the time she spent on that rooftop, seated between the heroes and idols of pretty much _everyone_ in Paris, just talking. Chloé would have been so jealous, she thought as she slowly but surely loosened up. Before long, she was even starting to laugh and smile a little, as the conversation drifted around from what they did at night (patrolling, but not for _too_ long. Honeycomb sheepishly admitted to overstaying out, and to her surprise Chat admitted the same), to how the fights gradually increased pain tolerance and reflexes and they were pretty sure they had more muscle than when they started...

And then it went into more mundane topics, usually about Honeycomb herself, surprisingly. They wanted to know how long she'd lived here – was she a long-time resident or had she just moved here? What year was she in school? Did she actually like honey, or bees? And finally, as Ladybug noted the time was close to one in the morning...

"You want my _number?"_ Honeycomb gaped.

"Why not?" Ladybug asked.

"I mean- It's just-" Honeycomb stuttered.

"Is it about your communicator? I think your kwami can tell you how to work it."

"N-No, not that," Honeycomb said with a shake of her head. "I mean...I mean, you _really_ want _my_ number?" All she could think of was the time she got her first phone, what Chloé had said to her. No one would ever have wanted her number, not as Sabrina or Honeycomb. So why...?

"Why not?" This time it was Chat Noir who'd asked, frowning deeply. Honeycomb didn't like the way he looked just then, like he thought something wasn't right. "You've got a Miraculous like us, you're _new_ at this so you'll need help, we should probably have been working together _anyway..._ Why wouldn't we want your number?"

She supposed he had a point, but...

" _You know they'd never call or text you anyway – I'm your only friend, remember? If you got their numbers you'd only be wasting memory, and they'd probably just delete yours right after. You'd be wasting your time, trust me."_

No. No, this...this was different. This was... this was for work-ish stuff. Yes.

And, she had to admit, it'd been nice talking with them just now. Maybe it'd be okay...

The next minute or two was spent listening to Hanii tell her how to open the communicator function - _"Swipe your finger down the middle of the depression, and the screen will split open."_ – and carefully programming the two numbers in, then giving them her own number. ( _"Just give them your personal phone number. No, you don't have a separate number as Honeycomb.")_

That made four numbers total she had saved on her phone, then... The sight made Honeycomb's heart feel a little lighter. Like she was actually gaining more friends.

She just wished she could share this with Chloé or something.

Oh, shoot, _Chloé!_

"I have to get going now!" Honeycomb cried, stiffening. "I mean – it's not because I don't like you or anything, or that I'm trying to dodge responsibilities, I mean I have something in the morning and-"

"Hey, it's fine! Don't worry," Ladybug said with a wave of her hand. "Look, we'll see you tomorrow night, okay?"

Honeycomb stared. "You will?"

"Well, _yeah."_

"We're allies now, right?" Chat Noir held up his baton, the communicator function on and showing Honeycomb's number. "And you're like..." He grinned slowly. "Hey, you're like our _protégé_ now! 'course we'll see you tomorrow!"

"Chat, I wouldn't go that far..."

Honeycomb just stood there, holding her communicator. Wand. Thing. She had their numbers. They had hers. They were outright _saying_ they'd see her the next night, not just saying "hi-bye" and leaving her. They weren't going to delete her number, were they? No. No, of course not, they were...

They were allies now.

Almost friends.

Honeycomb's smile hurt her face. "Yeah...Yeah, see you tomorrow night!"

 

 

* * *

 

 

She was still smiling after she climbed through her bedroom window and dropped the transformation. Hanii reappeared in front of her, saying nothing as Sabrina grabbed her and spun around delightedly, laughing.

Best. Night. _Ever._


	5. True Colors

" _Very carefully push the comb towards your scalp, over the bobby pins. You might want to gently wiggle it to make sure it's secure."_

Sabrina paused the video and carefully did as directed. She looked past her laptop and at the mirror as she did, making sure it looked right. A few moments later, she clicked 'play' again.

" _And there you go! Your comb is secure, and won't come out until you take it out yourself! Thanks for watching, please like and subscribe for more-"_

Sabrina exited out of the video, a pleased smile on her face.

"You did beautifully!" Hanii's voice came from her shoulder. "Isn't this much more comfortable than wearing it under your headband?"

Sabrina chuckled, poking her comb a few times to be sure. It didn't budge. "I thought it'd be more difficult than that!" Her smile then faded a bit, as her eyes were fixed on the comb in her reflection. It was...still a weird image. Here she was; big glasses, big nose, boring hair...gold comb. It still didn't seem real, or right.

Hanii seemed to sense what Sabrina was feeling. She smiled gently at Sabrina's reflection, floating up and tapping the comb. "It suits you. In more ways than one."

"Thanks, Hanii..." Sabrina mumbled, trying to smile again for the kwami's benefit. "I guess I'm still getting used to this," she added, touching the comb self-consciously. "I'm still trying to convince myself yesterday wasn't just a dream."

"If you need proof, you can always check your address book in your phone," Hanii said cheerfully.

Sabrina laughed again as she gathered her bag and phone. She paused to glance fondly at it, or more specifically her contacts, before dropping it into the bag. "Oh, do you want to get in?"

"Where are we going again?"

"Chloé and I are going to the mall today-" She faltered upon seeing the frown on Hanii's face. "Er, do you not like the mall?"

"Mm, no, it's not that, it's just..." Hanii looked off to the side, looking as if she wanted to say something. After a heavy moment, she shook her head and looked back to Sabrina, a tiny smile on her face. "Never mind. And I think today I'd rather be closer to you, if you don't mind."

Before Sabrina could ask what she meant by that, Hanii zipped over to her and tucked herself into the Sabrina's collar. The redhead squealed and jumped, both at the suddenness of the movement and from how Hanii tickled. "H-Hanii!"

"Don't worry, I'm quite hidden here," came Hanii's voice, near and just below her ear. "Actually, this is surprisingly comfortable. Your collar is folded over so I have a nice little handhold!"

"Hanii-"

"Don't worry," Hanii said again. "I think this will be better for us anyway – it's pretty difficult to spend _time_ with each other when I'm in your bag."

Sabrina couldn't argue with that. And it did seem pretty unfair that her new friend had to sit in her bag all day...What could it hurt?

"Okay," she whispered, exiting the apartment and moving for the elevator. "But stay where you are, please."

Sabrina smiled eagerly at Chloé as she slid into the back of the car, making sure to keep a respectable distance from her friend. Boundaries, of course. "Good morning, Chloé!"

Chloé glanced at her. "You look better," she said simply.

"I feel better! I just needed some sleep and some food and I-"

"So are you sure it's all gone? If you're sick, you can't give me what you have."

"Oh. Oh, no, don't worry, the nurse said it was just over-exhaustion."

"Hm." Chloé didn't say anything more than that.

Sabrina shifted in her seat, feeling more than a little on-edge. Tiny as it was, Hanii's weight against her neck was a constant reminder of – well, a lot of things. Of her new responsibilities, her new friends (allies? Acquaintances?), of the comb, of the fact she was _not actually in her bag anymore and she really couldn't let Chloé see her..._ "S-So, I worked a little on the homework, and I'm thinking of doing the rest after our shopping trip is done. I've got – I've got some new chores to do, so I have to prioritize carefully, but I'll still be able t-"

"Sabrina, _okay!_ Stop _talking_ \- as long as it's actually _done_ this time, I don't care! You're giving me a headache."

"Right, sorry, Chloé!" Sabrina shrank back slightly when Chloé shot her a look for that sentence alone. She smiled, hastily nodded, and then stared straight ahead, resolving to stay silent the rest of the ride.

There was a little vibration against her neck, along with a barely-heard "hrmmmm..." Sabrina lifted her hand under the pretense of toying with her hair, but her fingertips brushed against Hanii's head reassuringly.

It was fine, it was all right.

* * *

There was always a routine to their shopping days.

Don't even bother checking the directory, just head on in. First go to the clothing boutique in the center, far from the doors – that's where the good stuff is, only the cheap stuff is near the doors. Shop around there for a few hours until you find something you like. Then hit the shoe store, and repeat the process. Head upstairs and go to the second-classiest clothing store; repeat. Head to the food court and replenish your energy.

(And what, no, Sabrina, we can't look in the movie store, they never have anything good. And no, we can't go to _that_ make-up store, they only sell knock-offs, here let's go to this one instead. It's okay if you can't afford any of it, you can just tell me what looks best on _me,_ and _I'll_ buy something!)

After eating, they'd usually retrace their steps in case there was something Chloé missed the first time. On third weekends of the months they would stop at the hair salon and Chloé would get her hair trimmed and washed while Sabrina waited with a hair magazine, and if it was the last weekend of alternating months they would stop at the nail salon. Chloé would get a manipedi while Sabrina would admire the rows of polishes. After that they would head back to the hotel, Sabrina carefully unbagging her BFF's purchases, admiring and praising whatever part of her body she'd gotten done that day.

...It was fun.

So it was silently and automatically that Sabrina moved, following a few paces behind Chloé. Close enough for people to know they were best friends and for Chloé to hand her something to hold with ease, yet far enough to not crowd her. Normally she stared straight ahead, not even bothering to look at other shop displays, but that particular day she was feeling a bit bolder.

Probably some leftover adrenaline and happiness from the night before.

In any case, Sabrina glanced out the corner of her eye - because what if Chloé turned and saw her own head turned a different direction? - at some of the displays they passed. Some of the clothing in the windows looked cute, and in Sabrina's price range too. She knew for a fact one store they passed catered specifically to lower-income people. But she didn't dare ask to go in; looking would be enough. Chloé wouldn't like going anywhere Sabrina wanted.

And besides, Sabrina couldn't ask her best friend to leave her comfort zone like that!

"Er, Chloé, if your headache is better," she began as they reached the first store and stepped inside, "what were you thinking of getting today?"

"Whatever looks good," Chloé said breezily, making a beeline towards a rack of shimmery ruffled tees. "And is current," she added.

"Oh, good idea!" Sabrina chirped, hovering in the background. "Those are really-"

"Tacky." Chloé dropped the sleeve she was holding and walked further.

Sabrina wilted a bit. The pink one Chloé had been holding had looked rather nice, in her opinion...

Still, she said nothing. Instead she opted to continue tailing Chloé as the blonde moved throughout the store. This part was always a little tricky, in her experience. She had to know if Chloé was actually finding this or that piece appealing, and if so, compliment it. If not, agree that it was terrible. But to _also_ be aware when Chloé was just testing her nonexistent fashion sense and was only lying about disliking something and-

Oh, thinking about it was making her head hurt. Sabrina decided to not worry too much and just admire some of the clothing while she waited for Chloé to pass judgment on a pair of purple ombre leggings. As she gazed around, her eyes stopped on a rack three feet away. Specifically, to the article of clothing at the front.

It was an ocean blue romper with long bell sleeves. Simple as it was, she couldn't help but be drawn to it. With a nervous glance at her still-oblivious friend, she slowly moved towards it. Her interest only grew when she reached the rack and lifted the hanger to move the jumper to herself. She really liked that shade of blue. And it was super cute, and...and if she paired it with some black stockings, then maybe...

"Are you going to buy it?" Hanii whispered, poking her head out.

"I don't know..."

"Why not? Is it the price?"

Sabrina bit her lower lip. She checked the tag, and to her surprise, it was well within her price range. But Chloé had always said Sabrina could never afford something from this shop...Maybe this was on clearance. "No, it's just...It probably won't look very good on me. Chloé always said the things in here would look strange on me."

Hanii blinked, expression unreadable.

"It _is_ cute, though..." she admitted. She stared at it in silence for a few moments longer, thinking. The romper was cute. She could afford it. It might not look good on her but she could at least try, right? And this was a shopping day and...

...and she never bought anything during their shopping days, so surely Chloé wouldn't mind if she _did,_ just this once. Right? It would just be one little item. Right?

And...and they were supposed to shop together, right? Why shouldn't she buy something? Chloé wouldn't mind that, right?"

"Chloé!" Sabrina called out, her voice squeaking a bit.

"Wha – Sabrina, what are you doing over _there?"_

Sabrina held the romper in front of herself, smiling anxiously. "I'm going to try this on, okay?"

Chloé stared, her eyes steely. "Why?"

"Because...because it's shopping day and I can afford it?" She inwardly patted herself for saying that much.

Something flickered in Chloé's eyes, something Sabrina recognized, couldn't quite name, and definitely did not like. But instead of saying something, Chloé just waved a hand at her and icily turned back to the leggings.

Sabrina let out a breath she wasn't aware she was holding and scurried to the changing room in the back. Once the door was closed, she leaned against it with a loud _whoosh_ ing exhale.

Hanii zipped out of Sabrina's collar, a funny little smile on her face.

"Wh-what is it?"

"Hm...nothing. I'm just proud of you."

 _What for?_ Sabrina wanted to ask, but she was standing in a fitting room with a very cute and affordable bit of clothing, and she'd already told Chloé she'd try it on. So instead of asking, she focused on switching her outfit for the romper. Hanii was polite enough to turn and face the wall without even being asked.

A few moments later, Sabrina turned to face the mirror and looked herself over, arms held out at her sides a little. The sleeves were a little longer than she expected, fanning out just past her wrists, but the rest of it...

She liked it. Even with her normal gingham stockings on, she looked... _cute._ Well, maybe not herself, she amended as she glanced at her face, but the ensemble itself looked rather nice! Maybe she could wear it to school sometime, she thought as she did a few turns. Or if she paired it with a cute, skinny black belt... Now that she thought of it, she could probably look for just that once she stepped out of here.

Sabrina froze just then, blinking. Was she really thinking that just now?

"You look so cute!" Hanii's voice cut in. "What do you think, will you get it?"

Sabrina looked at herself again.

She smiled.

"I think I will, you know?"

Chloé wasn't looking at clothes when Sabrina left the fitting room. She was waiting outside the rooms, arms folded and her gaze distant. She didn't look at any other clothing racks as Sabrina grabbed a thin black belt either, instead watching _Sabrina._

Sabrina tried not to let her nervousness show as she took her items to the register. But she could still feel Chloé's gaze on her back. She swallowed thickly and tried to smile as the cashier handed her her bags with a smile of her own. She held that frozen smile as she turned and made her way back to Chloé.

Chloé's expression was unreadable. Sabrina didn't know if it was a good sign or a bad one.

"Uh, are you done, too, Chloé?"

"There's nothing good here," Chloé said simply.

Sabrina blinked but didn't argue, even though she had a million questions all at once. (But Chloé loved this store. But Chloé always shopped here. Chloé said this store was one of the best and most fashion-forward places, all the fashionable people shopped here. Why would-)

"Let's go this way instead." Chloé turned on her heel and briskly marched out of the store, leaving Sabrina to hurry to keep up.

She didn't know where they could possibly be going. The shoe store wasn't in this direction, it was the other way. The food court wasn't that way either, and there was no way she could want to go to the video game store, or bookstore. Sabrina glanced above Chloé's head towards the store sign looming over them, and then her heart dropped into her stomach in alarm.

They were heading into the jewelry store. And not the kind that a teenage girl normally went to; this was the _expensive_ jewelry-store.

Even the inside of the store looked intimidating, all dark browns and ambers and glass _everything._ Sabrina didn't even dare to touch the giant Do Not Touch Glass sign in the doorway. A few clerks stared incredulously, even accusingly, at the young girls as they went in.

"Chloé, we can't afford any of this-!" she cried.

" _I_ can." Chloé looked at Sabrina over her shoulder, one eyebrow raised and a tight smile on her lips. "It's okay if I get something from here, right?" There was an odd tone in her voice, one that Sabrina couldn't quite describe yet it still made her cringe back and nod meekly.

"Of course! It's...it's a shopping day, of course we..."

Sabrina trailed off into mumbles as Chloé turned and walked towards one of the displays. Well, she supposed there really was no harm in it. She'd bought something nice for herself, Chloé was just doing the same thing. She approached the display, looking to see what this particular one held.

It held _hair combs_.

Beautiful, ornate hair combs made of precious metals and stones, hair combs inlaid with diamonds and pearls, hair combs that were made of curling loops and curves like an art nouveau border. They were delicately sitting on velvet and plush like they were part of a queen's treasury. They gleamed and sparkled, much more than Sabrina's own hair comb did.

Sabrina glanced at the prices next to them and felt her heart drop. One of those combs was worth three months' worth of her father's paychecks! And that was the _cheapest_ of them!

"I'll take this one," Chloé said suddenly, pointing downward.

Sabrina looked, and her eyes widened a bit. It was one of the more expensive combs, gold and pearl and topaz. Shaped like a tiny, curly tiara, with a topaz bee in the center.

Unconsciously Sabrina touched her own comb.

"Would you like it bagged, miss?"

"No, thank you, I'll wear it out."

A swipe of the credit card, waving away the receipt, and the girls walked out of the jewelry shop, Chloé casually inserting the new comb into the base of her ponytail. It shimmered where she placed it, like a princess's crown, demanding Sabrina's gaze as she walked behind Chloé.

* * *

Sabrina had initially worried about Chloé's bank account after _that_ stop, but told herself to relax after they left the shoe store a few hours later. Sabrina was laden down with boxes, her one shopping bag dangling from her elbow. If Chloé was able to buy all these shoes _in addition_ to that comb, then surely she'd be fine.

So she swallowed back any concerned questions and said nothing as Chloé led her to the next clothes boutique. She didn't speak up about Chloé's spending, didn't disagree when the blonde decided she wouldn't mind holding the rest of the bags in addition to her own one, and she didn't speak up when Chloé snapped at a poor woman trying to sell them on the wonders of a new curling iron.

Luckily for both of them, Chloé's mood seemed to have improved by the time they got to the next boutique, or she found something she actually liked in there. Within an hour or shopping, she'd gone into the fitting room with a plethora of new clothes while Sabrina agreed to wait outside. "You don't mind, _do_ you, Sabrina?" she had said. "If I have something to buy and you don't? I mean, this is pretty much a reversal of our first stop, after all."

As Sabrina sat in the chair outside, she expected Hanii to say something. The kwami had been grumbling under her breath every other time Chloé had something to say, so any second now she'd have-

"You know, that was very rude of her."

There it was.

"It's really not so bad," Sabrina said quietly, a nervous smile on her lips. "She just has a different way of showing her feelings than most people, that's all."

"She's been nothing but rude all day. Rude isn't even the word for it. I think she got that comb on purpose, too." Hanii actually sounded as though she were _sulking,_ and Sabrina had to fight back a laugh.

Even if she did privately agree on that last part...

"But it's not a total loss!" Sabrina piped up, lifting her shopping back and rustling it a bit. "I got a new outfit! And any day spent with my BFF is a good one."

Hanii looked as though she wanted to say something again, but just as she was opening her mouth to speak, there was a loud scream from outside and downstairs.

Sabrina shot to her feet in alarm, seeing several people running past the store, or inside it. One of two of them had singed hair or smoking clothes. "Wha-?!"

"Akuma!" Hanii whispered harshly, and Sabrina felt her stomach drop. Of _course_ it would be that. "Sabrina, you've got to transform!"

" _What?"_ Sabrina barely stopped herself from outright shouting. "But I- That thing is- I've never-!" she babbled, face paling.

But she never finished any of those sentences. Her mind – and her heart – wouldn't let her.

She didn't know how to fight. _That didn't matter._

That thing was an Akuma. _Yes it was._

Akuma were scary and dangerous! _And that was why someone had to fight it, stop it from hurting any of the civilians._

She'd never faced an Akuma before. _Well, she had to start at some point._

She was alone. _Ladybug and Chat Noir would be here soon, they always showed up soon. But she couldn't just sit and wait until they did._

She couldn't, she just couldn't!

 _Yes, she could, and she ** **must****._ _People were going to be hurt, or worse._

She couldn't let that happen!

"Sabrina? What's going on out there?!"

Oh no, Chloé!

Without even thinking, Sabrina grabbed the chair she'd been sitting in and jammed it against the door of the fitting room, the back of the chair catching under the doorknob. It would have been darkly funny if the situation wasn't so serious. She stepped back, watching as the knob turned and rattled, but when the door didn't open, she sighed in relief. Chloé would be fine, as long as the Akuma didn't come near this store.

That done, Sabrina raced out of the store and ducked behind a few potted trees. Miraculously, no one was near her hiding place. She wondered if the heroes of Paris always had similar luck themselves.

"O-Okay, here I go...!" Sabrina whispered, willing her heart to stop racing. _"Hanii, Transform Me!"_

The gold light was much more familiar to her now, as was the rush of power and general _warmth_ but she didn't have a chance to enjoy it this time. As soon as she was Honeycomb, she heard Hanii's voice in her head, before she could even run out to try and...fight? Be a diversion? Something.

" _Honeycomb, before you go out there, take your weapon off your waist!"_

"My weapon?"

" _The hexagon! Take it off and just_ _will it to be a wand! Power is Benevolence!"_

Honeycomb didn't even think to ask what Hanii meant, or to question her grammar. There was no time for that! She grabbed the hexagon off her waist as Hanii had said, running out from behind the plants and towards the low wall around the upper floor. Almost instinctively, she climbed the top of it and jumped down, her wings popping out slightly to slow her descent a bit.

As she fell, a long, black handle ejected from one of the sides of the hexagon, a little shorter than her own arm.

She didn't even spare a thought to wonder _how_ she'd done that exactly. Honeycomb's hand moved to the wand's handle as she landed on the floor, five feet behind the Akuma. _****"HEY!"****_

It – she – turned around, and Honeycomb froze.

"Uh..." she squeaked out, trembling in her boots. "You...you stop...you stop right there! People are getting hurt, and you should...you should leave them alone!"

Honeycomb made a note to work on her heroic speeches in the future.

...just as the Akuma yelled something about a "free demonstration" and flung some metal cylinders at her. Honeycomb shrieked and jump-fell out of the way, gaping in shocked horror as the cylinders ( _Curling irons!_ she realized) burned straight through the sandwich board she'd been in front of.

_Okay._

_Correction._

She should work on her heroic speeches if she actually _survived_ this.

Honeycomb screamed again as more deadly curling irons were thrown at her, scrambling to get out of the way in time. Okay, okay, think, _think!_ She needed a plan, she couldn't just scream and run out of the way – even if she was doing that a third time now – she needed to _actually do something!_

She was supposed to be a hero, wasn't she?

She was supposed to _protect people,_ wasn't she?!

Ducking to avoid another curling iron, Honeycomb let out a long yell that she prayed was more intimidating than she felt, and charged at the Akuma, wand brandished like a bat. If nothing else, she could _bash_ it.

Her sudden charge caught the Akuma off-guard, but only for a fraction of a second. She flicked her wrist, and Honeycomb was close enough now to see that the curling irons were coming from inside her sleeve to slide into her hands before she threw them. The arm was flung out, supernaturally-hot metal flying just as Honeycomb swung her wand-

-it collided with the curling irons instead of the Akuma, sending it flying off in a random direction.

She thought she could hear someone shouting, but didn't fully register it. She was running on autopilot, swinging her wand again and _oh God she hit it!_

The Akuma was knocked a foot back, stumbling and lifting a hand to its jaw.

Honeycomb whooped and got into a defensive stance, feet planted firmly apart, wand held in her grasp. "Okay, finishing this! ****Benevo-"****

"I'm just trying to _do my job!"_ The Akuma shrieked furiously, whipping her head around to glare at Honeycomb. _"And personally, dear, I think you could use a ** **new look!"****_

Her arm flung out towards Honeycomb, a metallic blur of motion following – somehow different than the ones before. Honeycomb was only able to see it for half a second before something red knocked it aside. It slid across the floor, Honeycomb's eyes following it. Another curling iron, steaming dangerously, but attached to a long extension cord that ran into the Akuma's sleeve.

Wait, but who-?

"Hope you don't mind a second opinion, but I think her hair looks fine."

Honeycomb's heart sped up a bit, her mouth drying.

Recalling her yo-yo was Ladybug herself, Chat Noir alongside her.

Honeycomb felt her face heat up as she mentally replayed the last few seconds in her mind. And they had _seen_ that, oh no-

"Honeycomb!"

"Huh?" Honeycomb snapped back to reality just in time to see the Akuma swinging her iron around again. Ladybug and Chat Noir had already evaded, but Honeycomb... "AAAAH!" she screamed, throwing herself to the ground and scrambling away.

So she wasn't making any good impressions was she, she thought dryly.

"S-Stay away from the irons!" she yelled instead, just in case they'd missed the first part.

"Did she hurt anyone before we got here?" called out Ladybug.

"No! I – I don't think so anyway, everyone was getting away from her! There were some others, but I got Chl–the mayor's daughter and the rest of them somewhere safe! They're perfectly fine!"

Honeycomb suddenly couldn't help but think that if this were a TV show, this would be the point where the camera would cut away to show Chloé struggling with the fitting room doorknob, angrily demanding to be let out this second.

"Did you catch her name?" Chat managed to ask, running as the iron came back.

"Where's the Akuma?!" Ladybug added.

Honeycomb's face lost all color. "I – I didn't look, I didn't hear anything, I'm so sorry, I just-" In all her rambling, she'd stopped moving and was standing perfectly still, wand shaking slightly.

" _Honeycomb!"_

Honeycomb found herself smacking the ground again, this time because Chat had run up and pushed her down. A second later, the iron swung over both their heads. Honeycomb smelled burning leather.

"Akuma first, apologies later, okay, new-bee?"

"R-Right, I'm sorry, I-!"

"It's okay! Ladybug will figure it out – you and I need to distract the Akuma til then, okay?" His eyes and tone were gentle, understanding. Despite the situation, he wasn't angry or frustrated with Honeycomb, even though he had every right to be.

She didn't know how to feel about that.

"Okay."

"Okay. Keep away from the irons, don't let her hit Ladybug or anyone else."

"Okay!" Honeycomb could see Ladybug in the background, a red and black polka-dotted pair of garden shears in her hands. Okay, five minutes, they could do this. Honeycomb could be a target for five minutes!

The next part happened in a blur. She and Chat were rising to their feet, Honeycomb's heart pounding in her ears for more reasons than one, the Akuma flung the curling iron – now red-hot - outward-

She ducked, and the curling iron swept over her head, smacking right into the side of an escalator. Momentum kept it going, neatly slicing through the structure like a hot knife in butter.

The Akuma tugged on the cord to bring it back to her, but Honeycomb was distracted by the sudden rumble behind her.

The escalator had been cut neatly in two, and was falling apart, taking a good chunk of the floor it led to along with it. Along with several onlookers, who had apparently thought leaning over the wall was still safe enough to view or record the fight at hand.

"Oh no no _no no no-_ " Honeycomb cried, voice barely audible over the sound of panicked screams. In an instant, her wand was aimed at the general area of the escalator and the floor above, and- ****"BENEVOLENCE!"****

Golden particles of light surrounded the hexagonal part of the wand and shot towards where she was aiming. The attack then burst apart and outward, the light hitting several different areas at once; the floor above, the wall around it, the top and bottom of the escalator, one of the decorative pillars next to it...anything she was willing it to. Honeycomb watched in a bit of awe as the lights expanded, turning into huge honeycombs over and around their target. They encased it, and it was as if someone had hit the 'rewind' button as everything put itself back together.

Honeycomb had seen every detail of it, as if in slow-motion, but in reality it only took a second or two.

"So that's what it does," she could hear behind her.

Honeycomb's sentiments exactly.

* * *

She didn't remember how the rest of the battle went. It only took about thirty seconds after she'd used Benevolence, after all.

She did know that Ladybug used the garden shears to simply cut the extension cord, and the Akuma was apparently inside the woman's name tag. A name tag Honeycomb had never noticed...

The butterfly was purified, all other damage repaired, and the Akuma's true identity was revealed – the woman selling curling irons, of course. Honeycomb barely listened as the heroes fist-bumped in front of her. She'd seen it before, on camera and before her very eyes.

But then she noticed neither of them were leaving. Or moving. She looked away from her boots to see them standing with their fists still connected, staring at her. Honeycomb blushed. "Uh, is something on my face-?" She lifted her hand to scrub at her nose.

"No, we-" Chat Noir began, then nodded towards their fists. "Don't leave us hangin', come on."

"What?" Honeycomb's eyes widened. No way. No, there was no way-

-but they were still looking her way, did they seriously want-

Honeycomb lifted her fist, shaking slightly.

And then her hair comb beeped shrilly.

So she just screamed, punched the heroes' fists, and ran for it.

* * *

Behind the potted tree, Honeycomb shifted back into Sabrina, falling to her knees and gasping.

"Sabrina, are you alright?!" Hanii cried, floating in front of her face.

"Oh my God, I was a mess..." Sabrina mumbled, covering her eyes. "I didn't know the Akuma's name or anything about her, I just ran around and hid and ducked, and I- I _screamed and ran from Ladybug and Chat Noir! Because they asked me to fist-bump them!_ How humiliating..." she whined, wishing for the floor to swallow her up.

Hanii floated there silently, tilting her head.

"...but you used your power."

Sabrina lifted her face from her hands.

"And you saved people with that. You helped Ladybug defeat the Akuma, just like Chat Noir does." She smiled reassuringly. "You did well."

"I did?"

"You did! And it was your first battle – you can only improve from here!" Hanii said, patting Sabrina's nose.

People were coming out to shop again. Sabrina stood up as Hanii zipped back into her collar, moving back into the clothing shop. "Do you think so?"

"Ladybug and Chat Noir did," Hanii said, a slight smugness to her tone.

Despite herself, Sabrina laughed a bit, rubbing her arm.

The tentative good mood was shattered when she made it back to the fitting room, where sure enough Chloé was still rattling the door knob and shouting. _"Sabrina! Open this door! Do you know what my father will do to you if I tell him-"_

Hastily, she removed the chair, and the door swung open. Chloé fell out, looking red-faced and angry, some of her hair coming out of her ponytail. _"There_ you are!" she cried. "Where were you – why wasn't the door opening?!"

"Th-there was an Akuma!" Sabrina cried. "And I uh...I fainted against the door, I was so shocked and scared, and that was why it wasn't opening and-"

"Forget it!" Chloé snapped again, storming past Sabrina, nearly knocking her over. "You've gone and ruined my mood and our shopping day."

"I'm sorry, Chloé..." Sabrina mumbled, deflating.

"Let's just _go._ I'm going home – this whole day has been terrible," Chloé continued, fuming. She shoved past Marinette and Alya, who were apparently here shopping too, and headed for the exit. "You ruined everything, Sabrina. Why did you _do_ all this?"

"Sorry..." Sabrina whispered, voice breaking slightly. She risked looking back up at Chloé, staring at the back of her head and at her sparkling hair comb.


	6. Tip of the Iceberg

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Discussion of child abuse.

Sabrina spent the whole of Sunday inside, very quietly and very uneventfully. Chloé didn't have any plans for them, and she never had plans for herself anyway.

She kept herself busy during the day; doing chores, watching some TV, reheating some dinner, plucking a few petals for Hanii... Before the two of them ate, she sent Ladybug and Chat Noir texts saying she was sick and wouldn't be able to patrol that night.

Then she wondered if maybe they might think she was lying, or trying to get out of her responsibilities. Which, okay, that first part was technically a lie but she couldn't tell them she needed a 'personal day,' right? In any case, she immediately sent texts of apology.

Then she sent more texts reassuring them that she wasn't hurt from the Akuma (what if they thought "sick" secretly meant "hurt?") and she'd be meeting them again on Monday evening.

And then she feared they'd believe she was lying about being sick altogether, and sent more texts swearing she wasn't a liar and apologizing.

Then she wondered if she was sending too many texts and sent more apologizing for texting so much.

She was halfway through another text explaining that no, really, she had a little cold, nothing else, when her phone buzzed twice. Hands shaking slightly, she opened two texts from Paris's heroes themselves – both assuring her that they understood and would see her Monday at the Eiffel Tower, and they hoped she recovered. Chat Noir had signed his with a cat emote, which made Sabrina laugh a little and feel a bit better.

After a shower, she checked the Ladyblog.

And then she felt her face heat up for reasons that had nothing to do with her recent hot shower.

Apparently Alya had been close to the battle, and Sabrina had completely missed her. There was a video of the fight, showing – in full glory – Honeycomb just running up to the Akuma and beaning it with her wand, shrieking like a warrior banshee. She could vaguely hear Alya making a wincing _"ooh..."_ in the background – was that a 'that looked like it hurt' ooh, or a 'how embarrassing' ooh?

The video continued, showing the rest of the fight, with the two _proper_ heroes arriving, and Honeycomb screaming in alarm after punching their fists. Sabrina groaned and was about to hit the stop button when she noticed there was still more time left.

The camera moved – apparently Alya was getting up and moving closer – as ladybug and Chat Noir conversed for a few moments. Then they both retreated, beeping in the background. Ladybug briefly waved at the camera, then they were gone. The camera turned back to show Alya's face, expression somewhere between exasperated and amused.

" _Soooo that was Honeycomb!"_ she said with a chuckle. _"Kind of skittish, but hey, that's okay! I'm sure it was just first-time jitters or something – you all remember when Ladybug was first caught on camera. And if you don't, then please click the link in the description. But if Ladybug can grow and become the amazing hero we have today, so can Honeycomb. What do you guys think-"_

Sabrina hit 'stop' and quickly went to the forums.

_I gotta wonder, how much is her being nervous and how much is being a coward?_

_She was probably starstruck or something._

_Dude, I would never run from Ladybug. Make me be Honeycomb!_

_I was on part of the floor that fell. She's not much for fighting yet, but she saved my freaking life. I can't say anything bad about her yet._

_I'm not saying she's bad, I'm saying she's inexperienced._

_Hey, Ladybug and Chat Noir were just as inexperienced as she was, once. They got better, so can she. Give her the same chance you gave them._

"Sabrina, dear..."

Sabrina nearly dropped the phone. "Y-yes, Hanii?"

She expected Hanii to have some kind of maternal remark, to say something about not letting people get to her, or another comment about Chloé. But instead, the bee kwami floated down to the bedspread next to Sabrina, curled into a little ball, and smiled. "Remember to charge your phone."

And then she winked.

Sabrina blinked, expression blank before she smiled a little. Tapping out of the internet browser, she set her phone down and took her glasses off for bed. "Okay."

"Good night, Sabrina."

"Good night..."

* * *

"I've got your homework ready!"

Chloé took it without another word, casually slipping it into her schoolbag without another look. Sabrina couldn't help the rush of pride. It was great to know that Chloé was so confident in her abilities at this point in their friendship.

"Sooo I guess you're not mad about the mall anymore?"

"No. I had a day to cool down and relax, and I decided I forgive you. Maybe you couldn't help it," Chloé said airily as the two began their walk to the classroom.

"Oh, thanks for understanding-" Sabrina faltered, brows lowering a little. Did...did Chloé mean that the way Sabrina thought she had at first?

But she soon brushed it off, squaring her shoulders and picking up the pace a little. "By the way, Chloé! There's something really important I really need to talk to you about, so-"

"Can it wait?"

"Well, sure it can wait! It's a little private anyway, so – so can I talk to you at lunch, when we're at your place?"

"Yeah, yeah, that sounds fine," Chloé said.

"Thank you!" Sabrina smiled anxiously, even though Chloé couldn't see it.

She stood a few paces behind Chloé as her friend entered the classroom proper, paused beneath one of the lights so it would catch off her tiara-like comb just _so_ and tossed her hair a bit. She literally _posed_ for a second or two, making sure the attention was on her comb, then continued her brisk pace to her seat as if nothing had happened.

Sabrina cautiously trailed behind, something gnawing in her gut. Something she recognized but hadn't thought about for ages.

When Sabrina sat beside her, Chloé leaned forward on the table a bit, tenting her fingertips. It was such an innocuous pose, but it put the comb clearly in Sabrina's line of vision. Like she was showing it off to her even though Sabrina had been looking at it (she'd kinda had to) the entire walk in.

She ignored the feeling in her stomach. It was probably just some bad toast...it was a little moldy, probably.

Chloé just wanted to show off her pretty new comb a little more to her best friend.

There wasn't anything wrong with that. If Sabrina had a fancy, expensive-looking thing herself, she'd be doing the same thing.

"Psst. Um, hey..." someone whispered behind her.

Sabrina didn't respond. Whenever anyone behind her spoke, they were asking for Chloé. But Chloé wasn't turning around either...

"Sabrina."

Wait, _what?_

Sabrina turned around, her eyes wide in disbelief.

Behind and to the side of her, Mylene was leaning forward with her elbows on her desktop. Her brows were knitted, making her look more nervous than she usually did. Beside her, Alix was staring at the board, but Sabrina could see her gaze briefly flicker towards her. "How are you feeling?" Mylene whispered. "Are you okay?"

"I...huh?" Sabrina asked dumbly.

"Are you still sick?" Mylene clarified, her tone sympathetic.

"Yeah, you looked pretty bad last week," Kim called out from behind Mylene.

Sabrina remembered when she'd fainted. Mme Bustier had said _"Kim, prop her feet up."_

Things slowly started clicking in her mind. Kim was all the way over there, she sat over here. She fainted by her seat...She did remember, Kim _had_ put her feet on someone's school bag. If he sat over there and she sat here, then...

She risked a brief glance around the room. Some of her classmates were looking back at her with interest. Not all of them, but some. She could even see Rose whispering with Juleka, digging into her bag and pulling out a bottle of orange juice.

Were...were they all worried about her?

" _Sabrina,"_ Chloé whispered sharply, reminding her to answer.

"Oh, no! I mean – I mean, no, I'm not sick anymore, I'm fine now!" Sabrina forced out, making herself smile. "I was just exhausted, that's what the nurse said. I'll be okay!"

From the corner of her eye she could see Marinette look at Chloé's school bag.

"Okay, that's good," Mylene said with a tiny smile. "You look better too, but we wanted to make sure."

_'We'? They did?_

Why would they, though? Chloé was the only one who cared about her.

Aside from Hanii, of course, but...

Before Sabrina could dwell on this any further, the bell sounded for class to officially begin, and she faced forward.

* * *

They usually had lunch in Chloé's room. Chloé would lead her into the elevator, into her room, and then call for the butler or one of the staff to bring her something from a menu she kept in a drawer. Usually she wanted something fine, fancy, or expensive. Or all of the above.

Sabrina remembered the first time she'd done that with her. They'd been nine, and Chloé had smirked and said she bet Sabrina didn't have something as great as this. And when they were eating (filet mignon, with skinny green beans cooked with almonds), she'd said she was willing to bet Sabrina would never have eaten something that grand were it not for her friendship.

Sabrina had said no, definitely not, to both statements. Because it was true; she had no problem admitting that.

So there they were in her room again, sitting in front of her huge TV and balancing plates on their laps. Sabrina waited until Chloé had finished about half of her food before she decided to speak.

"So, Chloé, the thing I wanted to talk to you about?" she said, trying to sound cheerful despite her shot nerves.

"Yes?"

Sabrina picked a sugared rose off her little cake and stealthily dropped it in her bag. "Well, see, I've recently had some – some family emergencies come up, and Dad needs me to do more chores and so my schedule is a bit busier than usual-"

" _Yes?"_

She took a deep breath. This was it. "I'm-sorry-but-I-need-to-stop-doing-both-our-homework."

The silence was palpable.

Sabrina waited, heart pounding, palms sweaty. But it was the truth. There was no other way around it.

The night before, she'd sat at her desk, working out what kind of hours she'd have to keep as a masked hero, how long and how late she could afford to patrol and still have a decent amount of sleep, _and_ how much time everything else in her daily life took. Even on days she had nothing else to do because Chloé had no plans for them, homework could take a big part of her day and night. She'd jotted down notes and worked and re-worked and finally came to one unfortunate conclusion.

If she wanted to do this and not get sick like before, she needed to stop doing Chloé's homework.

Chloé still wasn't speaking. Sabrina risked a look up and wished she hadn't. Her BFF was staring at her with icy eyes, her jaw tense and brows lowered. It was not an outright glare, but it was enough to make Sabrina wish she had a dark hole to curl up in and hide. Or frantically appease her.

Sabrina gulped and smiled anxiously. "I-I mean there's no other choice – no way around it, Chloé, I'm really sorry-"

"Sabrina, you _know_ how busy I am!" Chloé snapped.

"Doing what?" Her mouth clamped shut as soon as the words slipped out but it was too late. She hadn't _meant_ to say that, she had just _thought_ it and it came right out!

It was from being Honeycomb, being tired, it was slowly removing her filter!

"I – I mean!" she stammered, seeing Chloé's face darken a bit. "I mean, I know, you've got other things to do and I'm not – look, we can still make it work! I can do my homework and you can just copy it later!"

"When would I have time to do that?"

"Before school..."

"We'd have to get up even _earlier,_ Sabrina. I'm not getting out of bed earlier than I have to!"

"Th-then I can email you the-"

"And make me stay up late? Get dark circles under my eyes like yours? Get wrinkles like you?"

Sabrina's hands flew up to her face, fingertips against her cheeks. "We could...do it after school. Maybe we could skip some shopping trips, only do it on the weekends, and do our homework togeth...er..." She faltered, seeing the look on Chloé's face. She still wasn't fully glaring, but the intensity of her stare was like an ice storm. Her fingers were gripping her silverware a little too tightly, the knuckles white. When she set her fork down on the plate, she moved sharply, slowing only before it made contact. Sabrina found herself flinching despite the fact that it only made a light _tink_ against the plate.

"I _thought_ you were my friend, Sabrina."

"I – I am your friend-"

"Then _why,"_ she sharply set the plate aside, onto the side table, "are you _betraying_ me?"

"I – I'm just – I'm not-"

"We've been doing this since we were _kids,_ Sabrina. You can't just turn your back on me now, you can't stop all of a sudden like this!"

"I – I told you, I have some things coming up-"

"Then change _your_ schedule, not mine! Honestly, Sabrina, that's so _selfish_ of you!"

"I'm sorry..."

"You had better be. I mean – did you really expect me to go along with that? We have a book report due in a week, a test coming up in Chemistry, homework every day...And you expect to just drop all of that, stop doing something nice for your _friend,_ and for me to be okay with it?"

Sabrina said nothing.

She heard Chloé stand up suddenly. She flinched again.

"I don't think I want to go back to school with you, Sabrina. And you aren't coming over after either, I'm too mad at you."

Sabrina felt her throat constrict. "I'm sorry, Chloé. I didn't-"

"Save it." Chloé almost snarled as she breezed past Sabrina. "I'm going back to school. _Maybe_ tomorrow you'll have come to your senses."

Sabrina looked up in time to see the sparkly hair comb again, just before the door shut.

Even though it hadn't been said, she knew why Chloé was even still giving her a chance, not giving her the silent/invisible treatment again. And she'd just _said_ it a few moments ago.

Hanii poked her head out of Sabrina's bag, concerned. "Sabrina?" she murmured. "Are you okay?"

Sabrina blinked, a little surprised to find her eyes stinging from the action.

"Oh, Sabrina, sh-sh-shhh..." Hanii soothed, zipping up to nuzzle her. "Shhh, don't cry..."

"I just...I j-just thought..."

"I know, sweetheart, I know." Hanii drew back, looking at Sabrina like one would look at a hungry kitten alone in a cardboard box. "I'm so sorry..."

Sabrina wiped her eyes from beneath her glasses. "It's okay. I'm used to it. Sh-She'll be okay again tomorrow." When Sabrina gave her the day's homework, likely. "I should...I sh-should get back to school before I'm late."

"You know you don't have to do what she says," Hanii said quietly. "You don't have to take this, you don't _deserve_ to take this."

"I know," Sabrina said, surprised to find that she actually _believed_ it, at least a little bit. "But-"

Her phone buzzed. A text message. Sabrina reached into her pocket, wondering if it was Chloé saying she forgave her already. Her heart sank, then lifted all over again when she saw the actual sender: Ladybug.

And then her heart skipped a few beats when she saw the text itself: _Can Chat and I talk to you tonight? It's important._

And then another. _But it's not bad, we promise._

Sabrina's hands shook as she typed back. _O.K._

* * *

"Do you think I upset them?" she asked, hours later as she stood in her bedroom.

"I'm pretty sure you didn't, Sabrina." Hanii smiled reassuringly. "They would have said so."

"Maybe they were so angry they needed to think about what to tell me." Sabrina touched her brooch again. "Maybe- Maybe I overdid it with the texts?"

"Sabrina, be honest. Did they seem angry when you left a few days ago?"

"Well, n-no..."

"Did they seem angry when they sent you those messages?"

"No..."

Hanii smiled and nuzzled Sabrina's cheek. "Everything will be fine. They did say it wasn't anything bad, right?"

"Right..." Sabrina thought for a moment, and then her face brightened a little. An anxious look appeared on her face as she said "M-Maybe, maybe it's about homework, too. Alya did say Ladybug's probably a high-school student." Of course, there had been a follow-up video mentioning that Ladybug had appeared on hieroglyphics, and Ladybug had apparently said she was thousands of years old but that was probably not the whole truth. Hey, Honeycomb was sorta like Ladybug, and she had to be _gifted_ her kwami and comb. Whoever Ladybug was probably had something similar, right?

Hanii frowned lightly. "Do you think that's what they want to talk about?"

She hesitated just a moment. "...no. Not really. But I can't think of any other important reason anyone would talk to me." She rubbed her arm, looking away for a second. Before Hanii could speak – and Sabrina knew she did want to say something in response – Sabrina blurted out, _"Transform Me."_

* * *

Ten o'clock, Honeycomb found herself standing on one of the Eiffel Tower platforms, staring at the city below. She loved this view. She liked it here. She remembered when she first came up here, when she first made that jump...

A shaky smile appeared on her lips. Even thinking about that leap of freedom and happiness was making some of that great feeling come back. She hoped she could hold onto it during this Important Talk.

...what was it about, anyway?

Honeycomb gulped, standing a little straighter. Great, now she was worrying again...maybe it wasn't about homework. Maybe they were mad after all. About the texts, her being sick but not really, the way she'd screamed and run from them-

They were going to revoke their friendship, ask her to delete their numbers-

-oh God they were even late, they weren't coming-

"Honeycomb?"

" _AAAAH!"_ Honeycomb yelled, jumping and whirling around. "H- _Hi!"_

Ladybug and Chat Noir were right behind her. Or in front of her, now. They exchanged a brief look – Honeycomb found her heart pounding all over again – and moved to where she was. Ladybug was the first to sit down. "You wanna sit?" she asked.

"Y-Yeah..." Honeycomb mumbled as she sat down, vaguely noticing Chat doing the same beside her. "Y-You said you had something important to talk about?"

"Yeah." Ladybug pressed her lips together.

Chat set his baton down, making a small noise against the tower's platform.

Honeycomb was suddenly reminded of the way her BFF had set her fork down before berating her, how it looked like she'd had to stop from slamming it. She winced despite herself.

It didn't go unnoticed.

"So, uh, what did you want to talk about?" she stammered out.

"Honeycomb..."Chat began, voice even and low. "Be honest with us. In your normal life...

Is someone hurting you?"

"Wh – _no!"_ Honeycomb cried, whipping her head around to look at him. Her eyes widened, brows lowered as she practically _pleaded_ "No, nothing like that is happening, I swear! I know – listen, I know it looks bad, and there's all those news stories and books but – no, my parents aren't hurting me! They would _never_ do something like that!" She didn't need to ask, she knew that was what Chat had been getting at.

"Okay but what about someone else?" Ladybug asked from her other side. When Honeycomb looked at her, she saw her expression was serious. "You said your parents are okay, but is there anything else going on?"

"Why would-?!" she cried, feeling cornered and not fully knowing why. "W-why would you think that?"

There was a bit of silence. Finally, apparently realizing Honeycomb was genuinely asking, Ladybug sighed a little. But it wasn't in annoyance; it sounded more like she was preparing herself for something. "To be honest, we didn't think it at first. It was a bunch of little things adding up and then..." She rotated her wrist and hand as she seemed to look for the right words.

"You seemed jumpy when we first met each other. At first we thought, 'hey, she's probably nervous. Anyone would be, right?' And you seemed calmer later. But then when we met the second time, at the mall..."

"You were back to being nervous and scared," Chat finished.

It was weird, Honeycomb thought, to hear him sounding as serious as he did.

"You apologized over and over, for things that weren't your fault or even warrant an apology. Like you expected us to be angry."

"Then there was all the texts..." Ladybug murmured, tapping her fingers idly. "Apologizing again, and even in text you sounded so _nervous,_ and it...it made us worried."

"You sent me a text saying you were sure I didn't believe you when you said you were sick. I wondered why you'd think that."

"And a few minutes ago, you jumped a mile when I called out to you. Chat put down his baton and you flinched." Ladybug looked away from Paris and at Honeycomb. "We were worrying before that of course, but this..."

Honeycomb looked at her knees. She didn't say anything, and neither did they. They seemed to be waiting for her.

She swallowed, her throat dry. "My parents...aren't hurting me. They're wonderful. Nobody is hitting me, I _promise."_

"Is there something else?" came Chat's voice. For a second he didn't sound like himself as he said "You know, hurting someone isn't _just_ about being hit."

Honeycomb blinked.

"Words and actions can hurt just as bad. Sometimes worse," Ladybug said next.

_Words and actions..._

Honeycomb looked over the city, taking in the sea of light. She felt above everything, metaphorically as well as literally. Up here, on top of the world, nothing from normal life could touch her, right? Sabrina was protected by a mask – or a visor, in this case – and a glamour. Nothing in her normal life could hurt her like this.

But...but wait, no, why was she thinking like this? Nothing hurt her to begin with. Nobody was hurting her, she was fine, any upset was her own fault, why was she thinking like this?!

"Honeycomb? You okay?" a soft voice said from her left.

From her right, a red-covered hand rested on her shoulder.

Honeycomb blinked, surprised to find tears streaming down her face.

Why was she crying? She wasn't sad...she had a friend. Yeah, she'd had a fight with her but...

" _Be honest,"_ a voice seemed to whisper. But it wasn't Hanii's voice, for a change. _"How do you really feel?"_

"I...I uhm..." Honeycomb managed to get out, reaching under her visor to wipe her eyes. "I..."

No one said anything. The hand on her shoulder squeezed gently.

Honeycomb inhaled shakily. "There's...s-someone I know."

From the corner of her eye, she saw Chat Noir nod.

"Sh-she...I don't know how to describe it b-but she...says things to me a lot. She doesn't mean to, I don't th-think, b-but...When I'm with her..." She swallowed. "When I'm w-with her, I feel..."

_"You know they'd never call or text you anyway – I'm your only friend, remember?"_

_"You ruined everything, Sabrina."_

_"That's so selfish of you."_

_"Where? I don't see anybody. She must be invisible."_

"I...I hate myself. I feel worthless, l-like I have no friends, u-unlovable, a-a-and..." Her words dissolved into shaky, breathy sobs. She sensed her allies leaning towards her, but spoke up before either of them could instead. "Sh-She t-tells me awful things every day a-a-and I f-feel like d-dirt. W-Worse than dirt. I f-feel horrible and like – like I don't even deserve what other friends I have. Like she's the only one wh-who'd tolerate me and even want to be with me and she tells me I should be grateful to her because I'm s-so awful and..."

Paris was too blurry to make out anymore. Honeycomb's shoulders trembled, her hands curling into too-tight fists. "A-And I...I hate it. I hate h-how I feel. I'm always a-apologizing, or trying not to make her angry at me. I'm always t-trying not to make things worse for myself, o-or inconvenience her, because she'll take it out on me. I'm a-always having to hide and be scared and sad a-and miserable, a-a-and I j-just...I h-hate it so much but I don't think I c-can..."

She couldn't take it anymore. Honeycomb began to cry in earnest, bowing her head and covering her face. If anyone said anything, she couldn't hear them, but she did feel herself being pulled to the side, wrapped in a hug. They smelled like bread.

"I k-keep thinking..." she choked out, only vaguely registering that someone had put a hand on her upper back, "I k-keep thinking e-everyone will be like that. O-Or hate me, or...I w-was so sure you were both m-mad at me, that you d-didn't like me or w-want me around you. O-Or that I ruined s-something...or..." Another shuddering breath. The hand on her back rubbed soothingly. "I-I'm so used to it, I don't...I didn't think anyone w-would be any different."

 _"_ We're different," Ladybug's voice came from above her head. "Honeycomb, I don't know who's doing this to you, but it's _not_ _right._ You _don't_ deserve to feel this way, you don't deserve to be treated like this."

"LB's right. This is really hurting you, and it needs to stop."

"I c-can't make it stop," Honeycomb blubbered. "I c-can't get away from i-it. I can't tell her 'no,' she'll make things worse, a-and I'd be left all alone-"

"You would not." Honeycomb felt herself being squeezed lightly, reassuringly.

"You have _us_ now."

_"And me too."_

Honeycomb's breath caught in her throat.

She knew she had Hanii. She loved Hanii. Hanii was her friend.

She knew Ladybug and Chat Noir were her allies. She had their numbers in her saved contacts. But...

Honeycomb inhaled shakily, leaning against Ladybug even more. Her hands, which until now had been over her face, slowly moved to the heroine's arms. She sniffled wetly, heard a soft _"Shh..."_ behind her.

But this moment, atop the world, spilling her heart out to even herself, was the moment when she finally realized to herself: she had more friends.

_She truly wasn't alone._

This made Honeycomb start crying again, loudly as she gripped Ladybug's arms. She didn't know why she was crying this time. She felt happy, and sad, and relieved, and angry, and she felt silly for even doubting these two and mad at herself for overlooking Hanii even for a second, and...

And all she could do was cry.

If anyone was close enough and looked up during the next five or so minutes, they would have seen an odd, probably blog-worthy, sight. Honeycomb leaning against Ladybug as the latter hugged her, one hand on her head to smooth back her hair, Chat Noir leaning towards them with his hand rubbing tiny circles between Honeycomb's shoulders.

Both of them with an odd expression of _understanding_ on their faces.

* * *

"Are you going to be okay?"

Honeycomb nodded mutely. It was around midnight, and she'd stopped crying a long time ago. But when she'd apologized (Chat told her not to) and made to stand, mumbling about patrols, Ladybug had just. Gripped her hand gently and said that tonight should probably just be a quieter one.

So she'd sat back down between them, saying nothing and just staring at the city. They hadn't spoken either. Once in a while Honeycomb would sniffle and wipe her eyes again, and one of them would move to touch her shoulder, or open their mouth to speak, but she'd just shake her head. Assure them she was fine. She was just overwhelmed. By everything.

They always looked like they understood, for some reason.

She wasn't sure she wanted to consider why that might be.

But finally, Ladybug had asked if she wanted to head home and go to sleep. They could patrol tomorrow, they could go back to normal tomorrow. That sleeping felt good after a bad cry.

Honeycomb didn't know if she wanted to consider how Ladybug – amazing, strong, cool Ladybug – knew that, either.

She couldn't let them see where she lived, but she'd allowed them to go with her part of the way. They stopped a few blocks from her apartment building, Honeycomb not giving any indication of which direction she lived.

And then Ladybug had asked that.

"I-I'll be okay," she mumbled. "I'm sorry I-"

"Hey. Don't apologize," Chat Noir interrupted. Despite that, he didn't sound angry or frustrated. It was a little unusual for Sabrina to hear someone interrupt in a soothing tone. "You don't need to apologize for anything, Busy Bee." When Honeycomb blinked, confused, at him, he smiled wryly. "Bee puns are easier than honeycomb puns," he said.

Honeycomb couldn't help it. A small giggle bubbled from her throat, she covered her mouth with both hands.

"There's a smile."

"Listen, we'll both text you, okay?" Ladybug said. "We'll check in on you before we meet tomorrow. And Honeycomb," she added, face stern. "You can talk to us about anything, and anyone. Okay?"

She nodded. Then stopped. "H-Hey, uh-!" she began, just as the heroes were turning around.

They stopped.

"Uh...why did you...you said little things were adding up. That told you I was upset...how'd you know?"

It was Ladybug who spoke, her eyes softening a little. "Because you reminded me a little of me, before the year started."

They were gone before Honeycomb could ask further questions, leaving her staring in confusion and shock.

Ladybug had felt like her once? But-

Her phone buzzed at her waist. She removed the 'hexagonal thing' and opened the phone to see a text from Chat Noir.

_'Me too.'_

Honeycomb sat on the cool roof, wondering how much in common she actually had with these two.


	7. Alice

“What're you doing, Sabrina?”

“I'm trying something I read online.” Sabrina smiled a little as she looked up at Hanii. They stood in the kitchen in front of the counter, a sheet of wax paper spread out in front of Sabrina. There was a small bowl of simple syrup, another of sugar, and a little plate of rose petals. Organic, of course. Sabrina picked up one of the petals and carefully dipped it in the syrup, then the sugar.

“Remember that sugared rose from the cake before? I was thinking, it would be nice if you could have sweet petals like that _all_ the time, and not just eat them off of any old flower.”

“Oh, thank you, Sabrina, but you didn't have to!”

“I know...I'm doing this because I _want_ to.” Her smile grew a little shaky as she gently set the rose petal on the wax paper.

It was strange to say that. _I want to. I want to. I **want** to._ 

Her phone buzzed. She pulled it out to see a text from Ladybug.

_How you doing?_

Sabrina couldn't help the nervous laugh that escaped her as she sent back that she was fine, she was just cooking. She wasn't going to get used to that, either...

 

* * *

_She didn't know how long she sat on that cold rooftop, trying to process what she'd heard and read. She only left for home when she heard Hanii telling her she'd be a wreck if she didn't sleep._

_And she did not want to have a Last Week Part Two._

_She waited until she was safe in her room to drop the transformation. As soon as Hanii floated in front of her face, she blurted out **“What did they mean by that?!”**_

_Hanii blinked, a little startled by the volume of Sabrina's voice. “By what?”_

“ _By – by – by--” Sabrina shakily wrung her hands, glancing around her darkened room. “Ladybug –_ _ **Ladybug –** said she used to be like me! **Chat Noir** said the same thing! What do they mean by that?”_

“ _Er...”_

“ _They couldn't have been like me! They couldn't have been...have been this upset or sad or worry this much!” Since her cry on the tower, it was a little easier to admit how miserable she'd been feeling._

_A small part of her wondered why she'd never noticed it earlier. Another part knew why: it'd been there for so long, it was just the emotional equivalent of white noise._

“ _Why not?”_

“ _Because...Because they're_ _ **them!”** Sabrina cried, throwing her hands up. “They're famous and cool and Ladybug's smart and clever and Chat Noir always seemed so relaxed and makes jokes and—and they couldn't possibly have anything wrong with their lives! Everyone would kill to be their friend, I bet they're super popular outside the mask, and and and what could they possibly have to make them unhappy? Who would **want** to make them unhappy – **besides** Hawk Moth?!”_

_She exhaled, the energy draining out of her as she rested her hands on the bedspread._

_She liked this bedspread...it was designed to look like a patchwork quilt, though it really wasn't. It had bright, happy colors, orange and pink and every shade in the middle. The pictures were of cartoonish kittens, flowers, and simple suns and stars._

_Chloé had seen it once, and asked if Sabrina had had this bedding since primary school._

_She had, of course, but that shouldn't have mattered._

_She told Chloé later that she'd gotten rid of it. Of course she hadn't, but she didn't want her bestie to think she was a baby or something._

“ _There's just no way...” she settled for mumbling._

_Hanii said nothing at first, just quietly hummed to herself. She seemed to be waiting for her to say something more. When she didn't, Hanii floated closer, expression gentle._

“ _You know what I think?” she whispered. “I think you've still got a little of that...'hero-worship' mentality.”_

“ _Huh?”_

“ _You're thinking of them as being above you. Better than you. You're not thinking that maybe outside of the hero business, they might be people just like you.  
__It's a bit like your father. He has a police badge and a uniform, but he's also still a normal person, right? He has problems and fears and loves just like any other man. It's a bit the same here.”_

_She tapped Sabrina on the forehead. “They may have more experience, but all three of you are teenagers with lives and problems, like anyone else.”_

_Sabrina had to admit...Hanii had a point._

_She still couldn't believe Ladybug or Chat Noir could have **anything** similar to her own life, but...Well, they all had masks. Glamour and magic stuff to hide behind._

_Her phone buzzed, startling her out of her reverie. She scrambled for it and saw Chat's number on the screen. One tap later and..._

_[Hey, listen. Don't be afraid to text if you're upset, okay? We're here for you.]_

_Another text alert._

_[We'll be checking in once in a while, too, if you want.]_

_Saying 'yes' gave Sabrina an odd, but nice, feeling, one she hadn't felt in a while._

_There was one more text that night, before bed. This time from Ladybug._

_[Remember: you. Have. Friends.]_

 

* * *

 

“Do you think they text each other, too?” she asked Hanii, as her text zipped off to Ladybug's phone.

Whoever she was right now.

“Well, I don't know for sure,” Hanii admitted. “But they probably do. Why?”

Sabrina shook her head, pursing her lips. “I dunno, I just...I don't want to think that I'm getting special treatment. Or making them go out of their way.”

“Sabrina, _they_ offered, remember?” Hanii reminded her, chuckling a little and tapping her on the forehead. She smiled as Sabrina flinched slightly with a giggle. “It's fine. They're just doing what friends do.”

“Y-Yeah...” She thought back to the text from before. “ _Friends_.”

It still felt weird to say.

...she wondered if they'd ever been like this once, too.

Her phone went off again, but this time it was an XY song, rather than a buzz. Sabrina laughed a little, tapping the button without looking and holding her phone to her ear. “You don't have to _call,_ too!” she laughed.

“Why wouldn't I?”

“ _Chloé!”_ Sabrina cried, straightening abruptly. Hanii gave her a puzzled look, but Sabrina waved her hand in front of herself “I'm sorry, I th-thought you were someone else!”

“You thought I was your dad? He shouldn't be calling you at work, it's unprofessional.”

Sabrina's heart sank a bit at the unspoken implications. “Y-Yeah, I know...” she mumbled. “Uhm. What did you need, Chloé?”

“I have a question about the math homework.”

“Yes?” Sabrina perked up slightly. Chloé with a homework question? Was she doing it on her own? Something must have inspired her to try on her own, she was so proud--

“Yeah. You remembered to use the purple pen I got last week, right?”

“What? Oh! Oh, yes, of course I did!” Sabrina rushed out. For a minute she'd been confused, but then she'd remembered that Chloé had bought a purple gel pen during their last shopping trip. She'd used it once to sign her name on the homework, but it had clashed terribly with Sabrina's own lead pencil work. She'd told Sabrina to get a purple gel pen, to make it match. “Yes, I used the purple ink, don't worry.”

“It's the same shade, right?”

“It's as close as I could get! Mme Bustier won't notice anything.”

“Great.”

“Oh, uhm, how are you doing, by the way?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean...can we talk a little longer? We don't have to talk about homework, we can talk about other things too! Like – like there's a new study group starting at the library, we could talk about that, maybe make a plan for it – I mean, math is getting _really_ tough right about now! Or this new movie coming out, with--”

“Sabrina, I gotta go.”

“Oh...well, okay, see you tomor--”

_Beep._

Sabrina lowered her phone with a sigh.

Hanii floated over, concern all over her face. “You _really_ don't have to--”

“I _know,”_ Sabrina mumbled, shaking her head and closing her eyes. “But I just...” She looked back at her phone, wordlessly opening up a previously-read text.

_You. Have. Friends._

“I have friends...” she muttered to herself like a mantra, closing the text again. “It's okay...”

“Sabrina?”

“Hanii, can we go, uh... can we go out today?”

 

* * *

 

It was her own idea, and yet she still found herself hesitating.

Some years ago, Sabrina's father had taken her to the movies. It was a father-daughter day, and he'd taken her to see the new Disney movie that'd come out.

Sabrina found herself thinking of that movie as she hovered anxiously in the doorway of her apartment building, wearing her new blue romper, toying with the comb in her hair. She usually only left for school, or to meet with Chloé. And if she wasn't going to school or meeting her friend...well, it felt weird. It wasn't like climbing out her window for a patrol, this was _leaving_ during the _day,_ to spend time with _herself..._

She never did something like that.

Unbidden, part of the song replayed in her head.

“ _Should I...? No.”_

She inhaled shakily, shut her eyes, and took a step.

“ _Here we go.”_

She was tense as she walked away from the building, jumping away from anyone who walked past her. It wasn't...that she was _afraid,_ not really, it was just...

She'd never done this before. Not without Chloé.

Well, okay, she'd done it before, once or twice, but one time Chloé was figuratively in her pocket and just a button-tap away, and the other time she was going _to_ Chloé, but--

The point was, Chloé was still involved.

When was the last time she'd gone out by herself, just to have a day on her own? When had she ever gone to the mall, or the gardens, or to eat, without her friend? When had she had a day just for her?

Well, herself and Hanii, but...

But...

But as tense as she was...she did find herself enjoying the day. Gradually, like ice melting, she relaxed her spine and shoulders. She paused to take a deep breath, to inhale the scents around her. She allowed herself to really _feel_ the sun on her hair, warming her. She smiled as a pretty orange butterfly flitted past her. Stopped to look in some storefront windows and admire the displays.

A few people walked past her, some of them nodded in greeting.

They were greeting _her,_ acknowledging _her._ Sabrina allowed herself to smile, shyly wave hello.

This felt...

Different.

But good-different.

“Sabrina?” a familiar voice called out.

Sabrina screamed and jumped, chest tightening. For a second she thought Chloé might've sensed she was out and come to find her. But no, it wasn't Chloé – quite the opposite. Marinette herself was standing a few feet away, one hand over her purse, eyes a little wide.

“M-Marinette, hi!” Sabrina stammered.

Marinette glanced around, blinking slowly. “Is Chloé with you?”

“No...” Sabrina felt herself wilt. Should she have invited Chloé?

But Marinette didn't follow up on that. She just smiled a little and looked back at Sabrina. “I like your new outfit. You look nice.”

Sabrina waited for the punchline. When none came, she reddened and nodded. “Thanks, thank you!”

They stood there, in awkward silence. Sabrina scuffed the ground with her shoe, wondering if she ought to say something. Should she apologize for the partner-assignment way back when? Ask Marinette about _her_ day? Uh – say goodbye?

Should she be talking to Marinette at _all?_ Chloé didn't like her – but she was really nice, the thing with the homework had been Sabrina's fault really – but if Chloé knew she was talking to her--

Marinette looked at her watch. “Sorry, I gotta get going! Bye, Sabrina!”

“O-Oh, uhm, bye!” Sabrina waved as the dark-haired girl ran past her, privately relieved that the decision had been made _for_ her.

“She was nice,” came Hanii's voice, below her ear. She poked her head out of Sabrina's collar, smiling at the retreating figure of Marinette before glancing up at Sabrina. “She's in your class, isn't she? You should talk to her more often.”

“What? No – no, I couldn't!” Sabrina protested as she began walking again.

“Why not, dear?”

“Because...because Chloé _really_ doesn't like her, if I talked to her more than necessary, she'd be so furious. And we kinda had some trouble before...” she admitted. “I'm sure she's still mad at me for it.”

It _had_ been her fault, after all. Yes, Marinette had been the one not answering her texts, but Sabrina had been the one to finally blow up at her. And insult her.

After her anger had cooled off, she'd had a terrible night. She remembered deleting Marinette's phone number from her contacts and sending Chloé a text of apology, blinking back tears as she told her what she'd said to Marinette and how she didn't _mean_ it to be an insult, and that she was just so _confused_ and didn't know what to think or feel...

Chloé had forgiven her, and got her a present in return for Sabrina's apology.

She'd been so happy at first, but thinking back on it now, and taking the previous night into account, she just felt uneasy and sick.

Hanii's voice brought her back to the now. “She didn't _sound_ upset with you.”

“I guess, but...” Sabrina fidgeted for a moment, watching Marinette go. Up further in the distance was Alya, waving as she approached. “But I'm Chloé's friend anyway. I think that's enough to make her dislike me.” She looked down to see Hanii staring at her, expression unreadable. Sabrina heaved a sigh, running a hand through her hair. “I know, I know I'm making excuses but--! But it's just--!” Another sigh. “I need some time, I guess...”

Hanii nodded once, humming a little. “I understand.”

Mercifully, she didn't press the subject any further. Sabrina continued on her way, thinking Hanii probably didn't want to sour this day out.

Well, more than it already could be.

She was nervous enough as it was...

Hanii must have sensed her edginess returning, because even though she didn't say anything, she made sure to make her presence known to Sabrina. She scooted a bit closer to her neck so Sabrina could feel her tiny weight, she hummed quietly, once or twice she patted her on the shoulder.

Sabrina felt herself calming down a bit, but she didn't actually voice the reason for her nerves until ten minutes later, when she was sitting on some outdoor steps, sipping at an orange juice. She brought her phone out and looked at the text again: _You. Have. Friends._

She inhaled shakily, squaring her shoulders. “I may have been...less than perfect with mine and Chloé's homework,” she admitted.

“ _Really_ now?” Hanii breathed, eyes widening a bit. But she didn't look alarmed in the slightest. She seemed pleased, if a little apprehensive for her Chosen's sake. “Are you alright with that?”

Sabrina smiled shakily. “I-It's the only thing I can think of... I tried to tell her I couldn't do it anymore, my schedule won't allow it. She said no. But – but if I purposely get some things wrong, she'll think whatever's happening is affecting my school performance! And if she thinks that, she'll realize that her own grades might suffer, and then she'll decide to do the work herself! And that'll make her feel better about herself, and she won't want me to do her homework ever again. It's perfect, it works out for both of us!”

Hanii frowned slightly, tilting her head. “But Sabrina, what about _your_ grades?”

“I'll be fine. I'm smart – I mean, that's what my father always said,” she added in a smaller voice. Then she made herself smile and perk up again. “So I shouldn't do _too_ badly, and I can raise my grades again in no time! Dad might be a little worried, but he trusts me to get back on my feet.”

“But you shouldn't _have_ to resort to this to--”

“I know.” Once again, she was surprised to find she meant that. Sabrina put her phone away, looking off into the distance as she fiddled with her straw. “I _know,_ but...But it's all I can think of, as I said. I can't just tell her I won't do this anymore, she'll get mad at me and she's awful when she's mad. Once, she _threw_ something at me.” It had only been a fake mustache, yes, but one day it could be something else.

The fact Chloé had been mad enough to throw _anything_ at her was...

.. _.scary._

Her father had never even so much as _spanked_ her when she was little and misbehaving, she'd never had someone throw something at her until--

Sabrina rubbed her arms, trying to stave off the cold chill that had just settled over her. She glanced at the phone on the table, still showing Ladybug's text. She shifted her eyes down to Hanii, she tried to focus on the weight of the comb in her hair.

She didn't have to be scared anymore. She had friends. She had Hanii. Her friends could text her, she could text them, they'd meet up every night and she could have that to look forward to--

Even if Chloé got angry over this, even if she threw something else at her, or called her names, or insulted her, no matter how intense it would be to sit next to her in class the next day...

She could just think of her new friends and try to stay calm. They'd help her. They'd be there for her.

“I'm okay,” she finally whispered, smiling at Hanii. “I'm okay now.” She stood up carefully, tossing the now-empty paper cup into a nearby trash can. “Let's keep going.”

“Where to?” Hanii asked, settling herself.

Sabrina's smile became shyer, her face pinkening slightly. She bit her lip, looking a little like a child who'd just realized they could have anything that wanted for lunch and was about to suggest something unhealthy.

“Anywhere, I guess?”

 

* * *

 

Sabrina noticed a few people running in the opposite direction as she headed down another street, near the library. It gave her some pause, but there wasn't anyone wrecking the city, no lights zipping around, nobody shuffling like a zombie... So maybe it was okay. Maybe this was nothing, she told herself, just a bunch of people out for a jog.

Or a run.

...in non-gym clothes.

With a panicked look in their eyes.

And then, as if to deliberately prove her wrong, someone stopped and grabbed her by the arm.

“Hey! Hey, don't go over there! Turn around!”

“Wh – what's wrong?!” She already feared she knew the answer, though, even as the man ran past without pausing.

And then her phone started buzzing.

As Sabrina ran between two buildings, she took it out and saw the Ladyblog blowing up with notifications.

[ _There's an Akuma at the library!]_

_[Sis, if you're looking, I got out, I'm okay.]_

_[I'm getting out – I don't think it's moving yet but I'm outta here!]_

_[im in throom with it hel]_

She _really_ didn't like how that last text looked...

“You're already close-by,” Hanii said, zipping out to look at the screen.

“I know. I-I got it!” Sabrina inhaled shakily. She could do this. She'd done it once, she could do it again, right? And she wouldn't be alone for long... “Okay, here I go – _Transform Me!”_

There was the familiar golden light, the familiar surge of power and confidence. Honeycomb darted out, taking off down the empty streets. For a second she wished she had a yo-yo or a baton to just zip over there, but this was fine, too!

She totally....totally had this!

  

* * *

 

Another reason to wish she had a yo-yo or baton: it would mean she'd have a more dramatic entrance than just 'walk up to the doors and creep in.'

Honeycomb carefully and quietly entered the library. Her whole body was tense, waiting for the Akuma to jump out and attack her with – with fists or a giant saw or fire or whatever this thing had.

But there was nothing. The library was eerily silent, more than it ought to be. Honeycomb cautiously looked around, heart pounding in her ears. She couldn't see anyone from where she was standing – there weren't even people hiding under tables. So either everyone had gotten out already or...

She tapped her hexagon and removed it from her waist, the handle popping out of it to form her wand. She gripped it tightly, walking deeper into the library and turning around every few paces.

Where _was_ everyone? There should have at least been a study group there that day, up above--

_The study group_.

Honeycomb turned and ran for the stairs, making sure to still keep as quiet as possible. She still couldn't hear the Akuma, it might be hiding, she had to make sure she hid just as--

“Three-x minus three equals negative one! What is the value of x?”

Never mind.

Honeycomb skidded against the floor and changed course. That voice had come from around a corner, near some more tables. The study group must have been there.

And sure enough, they were. As she turned the corner, she instantly saw a group of kids who looked three or four grades below her, clustered together at the end of one of the tables. She only focused on them for a second, but she could see them trying to back away towards escape, but something seemed to be stopping them.

“ _Negative-five-x plus two equals negative-six!”_

And she realized exactly what that was a second later when her wrists and ankles snapped together.

“Now, now,” said a masculine voice as Honeycomb fell to her knees with a short cry. “You'll get yours in a second, just wait til I call on you!”

Honeycomb tore her gaze away from her wrists – and the bizarre, floating _literal chain of numbers and symbols –_ and faced the Akuma.

He looked just a little older than herself. He didn't _look_ that remarkable, or threatening, really – he looked something like an old-fashioned professor, like one that appeared in books or documentaries. The kind with the patched elbows. He wore a black top hat for some reason, and was carrying a large math textbook that managed to look as old-fashioned as the rest of him.

Well, she realized, spying a modern calculator tucked into his breast pocket, maybe not _all_ the rest of him.

But he had a creepy butterfly around his eyes, so there was no way he _couldn't_ be the Akuma.

“Now,” he said, turning towards the young boy in front of him. “As I said, if three-x minus three equals negative one, what does x equal?”

“I – I don't kn--”

The book snapped shut. The young boy disappeared in a flash of gold light, the light reappeared around the book, and the book fell open. Honeycomb's eyes widened.

“Maybe _properly_ immersing yourself in your studies will help you learn.” The Akuma sighed. “I'm so disappointed in everyone! You're not even trying to cooperate with me, you're not even _trying_ to do your work! This is what happens when you just talk and play games instead of focusing on studying!”

_He must be the tutor in charge,_ Honeycomb realized.

“You,” he turned towards a girl in front. “If negative five-x plus five equals ten, what is the value of x?” He shifted the book threateningly as the girl's eyes darted around, ignorant of the way Honeycomb was mumbling to herself while lifting and lowering her fingers.

“I-- I-!”

“That's easy!”

The Akuma turned towards Honeycomb, who just grinned back, looking a bit flushed as she held up one finger. “X equals negative one!” she cried triumphantly.

His eyes narrowed angrily and he turned bodily towards Honeycomb. Behind him, the girl's binding disappeared. She spared a glance at Honeycomb and her friends before running for it. The Akuma didn't seem to notice. “I didn't _call_ on you,” he said. “That wasn't _your_ problem!”

_But it was **hers**...that's why she was freed! _ Honeycomb thought with a bit of pride. She was figuring this out fast!

One of the boys called out to her then. “Don't get them wrong, Honeycomb! Janice and Kayla did before you got here and--”

The Akuma turned. “You wait til Mathematician calls on you--”

“If negative-five-x plus two equals negative-six, then x equals eight over five, or one and three-fifths!”

The equation around her wrists and ankles shattered. Honeycomb actually _laughed_ as she jumped back up. “I may be a _bee,_ but I have an _A_ in math!” she cried.

“That was _adorable_.”

Honeycomb's face turned bright red as she heard the familiar voice behind her. Ohhh, why did Ladybug and Chat have to show up _after_ she'd made a terrible joke? Why'd they have to hear that?

Ladybug, who apparently already knew some of what was going on, strode forward, yo-yo already spinning. “Great,” she said. “I _hate_ math.”

Mathematician didn't seem happy by the arrival of Paris's true heroes either, taking a few steps back and angrily opening his book. “Then _study!_ If seven-x minus one equals negative-three-x plus four, then--”

“Negative one over two!” Honeycomb called out.

The number chain shattered just as quickly as it began to zip out of the book.

Mathematician seemed to pale – as much as he could being so pale already – and ran down the hall, away from his students/hostages. Honeycomb rushed over to the little group, quickly muttering the equations to herself and undoing them as the other two – her allies, her _friends,_ she had to remember that better – ran past.

“I'll be right there! I'm good at math!” Honeycomb said, as if that weren't obvious. “L-Leave the equations to me! Er – if that's okay...” she added, suddenly wilting.

“Fine by me! I'm _done_ with school for the day,” Chat Noir offered, grinning briefly.

After mere moments, the last equation-chain was solved, and Honeycomb was pointing the kids towards the doors. “Go, go, go!” she called. “Get out, hurry!”

Most of them obeyed without another word, but one girl slowed her steps for a second, staring at her almost reverently. “You did that in your _head..._ ” she breathed before running after her peers.

Honeycomb stood there for a second, face heating up again before she remembered where she was. Right, right, the Akuma. She had to help with the Akuma, even if all she was doing was standing on the sidelines, shouting out math answers.

At least Ladybug and Chat Noir would be nicer about it than Chloé...

And no, she wasn't even going to _begin_ comparing what she was about to do to doing Chloé's homework for her. These were very different species of cat.

...aw, that had been a good one, she should have said it out loud.

She heard Mathematician's equation just as she turned the corner and found them standing on tables – Ladybug's yo-yo was only ensnared for about a second before Honeycomb offered the answer.  (“Negative four-sevenths!” “Thanks, Busy Bee!” “Chat, you already called her that!”)

The rest of the battle was like the other one in retrospect: a blur.

She remembered a lot of numbers and x's, a lot of glowing gold flashes, and a _lot_ of answers. The golden chains kept coming without pause, aiming for Honeycomb herself, for ladybug's yo-yo, Chat's throat-- But just as fast as Mathematician shouted an equation, Honeycomb shouted a correct answer.

Her throat was starting to feel a little raw, the numbers coming out as squeaks by the time Ladybug found the Akuma – inside the one piece of modern tech on Mathematician's outfit.

There was a broken calculator, a wave of healing red ladybugs. A hapless tutor blinking in confusion in the middle of the library, a few younger kids in the same predicament as they were pulled back _out_ of the math book, and it was over.

Honeycomb smiled shyly, pumping her fist in front of her chest weakly. “Yay!” she cheered quietly. She hadn't done anything but solve math problems, really, she'd done even _less_ now than she had in the last battle, why should she get to--

“Good job!” Two fists lightly tapped her own.

Honeycomb looked up, startled, to see her friends grinning at her.

“Wh – why?” she asked, blinking. She didn't lower her fist from theirs, however. “I didn't do anythin--”

“Honeycomb, you _did_ ,” Ladybug interrupted her. “Okay?”

“...all I did was solve math problems,” she mumbled.

“Yes, and if they _hadn't_ been solved, we'd have lost,” Ladybug gently pressed.

“And you got them all _right!_ You know how helpful that was? How helpful _you_ were?”

Honeycomb stared, feeling an odd, excited swelling in her chest. “I didn't use my power, I didn't--”

“You don't always _have_ to! You still helped a lot, don't think you didn't!”

Honeycomb stared between the two of them, then at their still-connected fists. She hadn't lowered hers, she realized, despite her protests.

She didn't _think_ she'd done a lot, it had seemed so small to her. She hadn't gotten in the final blow, she hadn't attacked, she hadn't...

...she'd helped the hostages, though.

She'd freed one girl and in doing so, realized how to break the chains.

She kept her friends from being ensnared or trapped in a math book too.

...she _had_ done something, right?

And...they'd thanked her.

_Beep!_

Honeycomb straightened her shoulders, smiling widely – shakily, a little tearily – and gently pressed her own fist forward, that swelling feeling returning.

_Pride,_ she realized. _Happiness, exhilaration._

“G-Good job!” she gasped out, tears stinging her eyes before she hastily wiped them away.

Her friends smiled back.

 

* * *

 

_When I fall and hit the ground_   
_I'll just turn myself around_   
_Don't you try to stop me!_

_And I won't cry_


	8. Story

After that, things began running... Not entirely smoothly, but much smoother with only a few road bumps.

* * *

"Oh, don't cry! Please don't cry!" Honeycomb pleaded with the child in front of her.

It was around eleven at night, and Honeycomb had been stopped en route to the usual meeting place by a child's crying. That would have been bad enough on its own, but among the cries was a sob of "Maman! Maman!"

The poor thing was __lost.__

"Hey, hey, it's okay!" Honeycomb said a little quieter, hoping to sooth her. "It's okay, I'll help you!"

The little pigtailed girl sniffled and opened her eyes, wiping her grubby cheeks with a pudgy hand. "H-Hon-Honeycomb?"

"Yes, that's me!" Honeycomb felt a buzz of pride in her chest at that, then reached for the girl's hand. "Did you lose your mom? I can help you find her!"

"R-really?"

"Yeah! What's she look like? Where'd you lose her?"

"Sh-she uhm..." The child sniffled again, taking Honeycomb's hand as they walked together. "She has yellow hair, a-and wears a big green coat...I w-was waiting f-for her to come home from work, and I thought I s-saw the car- S-So I ran to see her but it d-drove away, so I f-followed it, a-an' I f-fell, an'..." Her lower lip quivered, tears threatening to spill again.

"It sounds like you just had the wrong car, that's all!" Honeycomb blurted out quickly. "Lots and lots of cars look alike – I did that once, too! I bet your mommy is waiting at home, waiting for you! Where do you live, honey?"

Wait...honey. Chat Noir'd be proud of her for that one.

Right?

The little girl rattled off her address, which thankfully wasn't too far. Honeycomb held the girl's hand the whole walk down the street and around two corners, keeping her occupied with talk. What did her mother do (she was a waitress), how old was the girl (seven), what was she doing up so late (waiting for Maman), and so on. Her sniffles gradually stopped, her stutter vanishing. Her tiny hand held Honeycomb's more comfortably as they turned another corner-

-and a woman's voice cried out "Izzy!"

Honeycomb and the girl – Izzy – looked up to see a distraught-looking woman running towards them, her too-big green coat flapping behind her like a cape. Izzy cried out for her mother, already about to cry, as Honeycomb released her hand. She walked up to them, only a little shy, as mother and daughter embraced in the middle of the walk.

"Oh, Izzy, sweetheart, you weren't in your bed and-"

"I was lookin' for you, Maman, your car drove past-"

"Izzy, honey, I just got back a minute ago, that couldn't have been my-" She pulled back, eyes widening as she looked down. "Izzy, you've scraped your poor knees!"

Honeycomb jogged the rest of the way over, taking a closer look. Sure enough, there was something she'd missed in her haste to get the girl home; both of her knees were scraped and red, covered in dirt. Then she remembered that Izzy had said she'd fallen.

Well, she could still fix this!

"Don't worry, ma'am! I can help Izzy!" she said, shifting her honeycomb into its wand form. As Izzy and her mother watched, Honeycomb smiled sweetly, twirling the wand a little for effect before aiming it at Izzy's knees. **"Benevolence!"**

Izzy's eyes widened in amazement as the little motes of golden light – the little tiny honeycombs – healed her knees and took the pain away. After just one second, it was as if she'd never tripped to begin with. "Thank you, Honeycomb!"

Honeycomb's smile widened a bit as she straightened up. "You're welcome! And next time, don't run off, okay?"

"Okay!"

"Thank you, Honeycomb," Izzy's mother echoed, sighing in relief.

"It's no pro-"

__Beep!_ _

"No problem, you're very welcome, I'm sorry to run but I- I'm very sorry, take care of yourselves!"

Honeycomb turned and bolted down the street, hearing the mother and child bidding her goodbye in the distance.

A minute later she leaned against the cool wall of a building, hiding near the back of it so no one could see her. With a flash of gold light, the transformation dropped, and Hanii floated in front of her.

Sabrina smiled sheepishly. "Sorry I used Benevolence on something so small..."

Hanii shook her head with a light smile. "Don't be. That was very kind of you."

Sabrina reached into the pocket of her shorts and pulled out some sugared rose petals. "Here," she said, holding them out. "They're only a little bit crushed."

"They'll still taste good. I won't be long!" Hanii floated down to Sabrina's palm, happily munching her snacks.

Sabrina smiled softly and leaned back against the wall. All she had to do was wait for Hanii to finish her meal, transform again, and then-

"You're sweet, you know that?"

 _" _AH!"__ Sabrina jumped a bit, barely keeping herself from curling her fingers inward and disturbing Hanii. "Ch-Ch-Chat?!"

"Don't worry." He sounded close, but not too close. "I didn't see you, I'm not even looking. You can check if you want, my back's turned."

"I'll believe you..." Sabrina murmured. "Where you following me?"

"No. This is just coincidence."

She wasn't sure if that was true or not. "I-I'll be there later. I have to feed Hanii." She paused nervously. "Hey, uhm. You can't tell who I am by my voice, can you?"

"Not really." She could just see him shrugging a little as he said that. "I might if I think about it really hard, but right now I have no idea."

It was probably meant to be comforting, but it also reminded Sabrina of how little she spoke herself. Especially around others.

"Ladybug thinks that's for the best," he said suddenly, catching Sabrina's attention. "If none of us know."

Sabrina nodded, even though he couldn't see. She'd heard the note of sadness as he'd said that. Honestly it was a bit of a surprise to her that the heroes of Paris didn't know each other's real identities. She'd always just assumed they did – and she saw no reason for __Ladybug__ of all people to insist on secrecy. Ladybug was cool.

...then again, Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne had to keep their identities secret so their loved ones wouldn't be hurt, so maybe that was it.

"I'm glad," she found herself saying, looking away from her kwami, who'd apparently finished eating but was waiting for the conversation to end. "That you guys have that rule."

Chat Noir sighed in exaggerated annoyance. "I  _know,_ I know."

Sabrina laughed despite herself. "It wouldn't matter anyway, really...I mean...you guys wouldn't know me anyway. I'm not that noticeable..."

He just hm'd.

It was true though, she thought as she dusted off her hands. No one knew invisible Sabrina. People were getting to know Honeycomb.

A burst of golden light, and a moment later Honeycomb was jogging out of the shadows to join her friend.

Honeycomb had friends. Sabrina had one awful BFF.

"For what it's worth?"

"Huh?"

"I bet Bug and I would have noticed you."

* * *

Chloé raised her eyebrow at the 80 marked at the top of her paper, then shot Sabrina a look.

Sabrina pretended to be very interested in her own 80, but kept watch over Chloé from the corner of her eye.

She remained tense and on-guard all day. Surprisingly, though...Chloé didn't once bring up the imperfect score.

Sabrina allowed herself to hope that things were changing in more ways than one after all.

* * *

Two days passed.

Chloé frowned deeply as she surveyed the red marks on her paper. She glanced at Sabrina's own paper with similar – though not identical – incorrect marks. Both girls had a 60 on top of their homework.

Sabrina held her breath, her skin prickling in anticipation of a fierce arm-grab from Chloé, but nothing happened.

Chloé just exhaled heavily though her nose and shoved her paper into her bag.

Exhale...

"So," Chloé suddenly whispered, making Sabrina tense up again. "I was thinking we could go to get my nails done today. We could maybe stop at the sushi place on the way back, if you think you can afford it."

"Oh, yeah, that sounds-" Sabrina stopped. She remembered the text she'd woken up to that morning. "Actually, I...I promised to meet with someone today."

"What? Who?"

"I don't know. Someone from the school, I think? It's probably nothing..." It was a terrible lie and Sabrina knew it. But Chloé seemed to buy it! At least, she only narrowed her eyes at Sabrina a little bit, and dropped the subject.

For the moment.

* * *

"So it's nice to meet you, Honeycomb!"

"Nice to meet you too, Miss Ladyblogger-"

"Alya, call me Alya!"

"Oh, o-okay."

"Now, don't be nervous. We're all friends here."

"R-Right. Yes."

* * *

The bell rang for dismissal.

Chloé turned towards Sabrina, but the redhead was already leaving, hurrying out the door like her life depended on it. "Sorry, more family emergency stuff, I'm sorry, Chloé!"

She barely heard Chloé angrily calling her back as she ran down the hall.

* * *

A week after she'd begun her plan with the homework, Sabrina found her father in the kitchen, brewing a pot of coffee.

"Morning, Dad!" she greeted cheerfully. "No work today?"

"Nope. So I'll be home when you finish school. I'll make a lasagna for dinner, how's that sound?"

"Sounds great!"

The chipper tone of Sabrina's voice made him turn away from the pot and towards her. He frowned a little. "There's something different about you..." Roger muttered to himself, hand over his chin.

Sabrina's hand immediately strayed to her comb. "Oh! Well I changed my look a little – do you like it? I got the comb from-"

Roger just shook his head, frowning harder. "No, no, it's not your hair, it's not the comb..." He seemed to study Sabrina for a little longer, then smiled, straightening his back. "Your eyes."

"What?" Sabrina blinked. She didn't have color contacts, she was fairly sure she didn't have an infection...she would have noticed if she had pinkeye or something, and she didn't-

But her dad was still smiling warmly. "Your eyes are sparkling a bit. You look happier," he said.

That evening, Honeycomb asked her friends about it herself.

Ladybug and Chat barely glanced at her before agreeing.

"You look much better," Ladybug said. Her smile looked, Honeycomb dared to think, relieved.

* * *

"Sabrina!"

Sabrina shrieked as Chloé suddenly threw her arm out, effectively trapping her against the bathroom wall. She stood up straight, eyes locked with Chloé's angry blue ones. Against her will, however, she found her eyes darting to the tiara-shaped comb in her ponytail. It gleamed and sparkled in the light, still. "Y-Yes, Chloé?!"

"Are you avoiding me?"

"N-No, of course not!"

"You know you bailed on our last shopping day, right?"

Sabrina knew. That was the time she yelled about- "I...I told you I had a family emergency."

"But then you never texted me to reschedule."

"...I didn't think it would matter..." Sabrina mumbled, shrinking down a little against the wall. "I mean, we usually shop every other day anyhow, so-"

"It's still your responsibility to reschedule when you bail on me. I had to go to the mall all alone, you know how humiliating that is?"

 _ _She thought I had an emergency and still went shopping...__ Sabrina didn't know what to think of that. It was true that it was Chloé's life and she could do what she wanted but...

But something about that...

Sabrina's text alert suddenly went off, startling Chloé into stepping back.

The blonde's eyes narrowed a bit. "Your dad doesn't usually text, does he?"

Sabrina opened the text. It was from Ladybug: __Just checking in on you.__

"It's my friend! I gotta go!"

 _"_ _ _Wha__ t friend?!" she heard Chloé yelling as she ran from the bathroom.

* * *

A few more days passed. Sometimes there would be an Akuma, sometimes not. But every day, Sabrina felt her confidence rising, little by little.

Granted most of it would disappear once Chloé started tearing into her, but after that...

She didn't cry on her friends anymore, at least. She still had her moments of weakness, of hating herself, of thinking she had messed up, but she didn't cry anymore.

And besides...things would work out. She just had to give it a few more days. Chloé would get tired of her lower scores and tell Sabrina to not bother with doing her homework anymore, she'd do it because Sabrina was just such an idiot.

And Sabrina's schedule would be freer, and she could...she could shop with Chloé again, and balance that with crime-fighting.

Hopefully she wouldn't have to lock Chloé in a fitting room again...

It was two in the morning when Sabrina was awakened by XY blaring next to her ear. She bolted upright, glancing at the caller ID – for a second she was terrified that it was a late-night Akuma. She hoped not, she and her friends had _just_ had a peaceful patrol and-

It was Chloé.

Curiosity overcoming her fear, Sabrina hit the accept button and held the phone to her ear. "Y-Yes?" she said with a yawn she only had to __partially__ fake.

"Sabrina, my dad just woke me up."

"Is something wrong?!" Sabrina was wide awake now, sitting up in her bed with wide eyes. Of God, had something happened?!

"Yeah."

Oh God no, there was a death in the family, wasn't there? Or Adrien had been hurt, or her dad was in trouble-

"He saw my latest homework scores, and he's __mad__ at me."

What...?

"He got back from a party, checked my homework, and woke me up to give me a lecture – at _this_ fucking hour! - about the importance of an education and that I better get my grades back up and _fast_."

Oh. Oh, good, this was it!

"You had _better_ do a better job from now on."

…..what...?

Chloé continued as if she didn't care about the silence on the other end. "And you know what – okay, now that I've got you? I need to talk to you about something serious, okay? You've been having a __really bad__ attitude lately."

"An atti- a ba- what?"

"Avoiding me, running out on me, canceling plans, bailing on our trips, trapping me in a fitting room-"

"I – I told you I fainted!"

"No excuse, you shouldn't have been that close! And I'm not done talking, so you shut up and listen!"

Sabrina's mouth snapped shut. She could vaguely hear Chloe over the sound of her own beating heart, over echoes of what her other friends - her real friends - had said before.

"You're my friend. My _best_ friend, right after Ladybug and Adrien. And I'm _your_ best friend. And this is _not_ how best friends treat each other!"

" _Honeycomb, I don't know who's doing this to you, but it's_ _**not right."** _

"I was willing to overlook it at first – I mean, obviously you have more problems than you _usually_ have right now-"

_"This is how it **should** be."_

"But you've been slacking off on our tradition that we've had since we were kids, you've been flaking on our plans, you've been trying to upstage me – _don't_ act like that's not what your stupid comb and blue thing were about! I'm trying really hard not to yell right now, I'm that angry with you!"

_"They're doing what friends do."_

"It almost feels like you don't want to be friends anymore – which is funny because last I checked, I'm the only one you've got! I know you think you're great because I'm your best and only friend, but all those nice things? All those cool places you get to go, those foods you get to eat? Meeting Adrien at all? That's _me_ , not _you. I_ am the one who shines, not _you_. _You_ need _me_. Okay? You need to remember that."

_"You. Have. Friends."_

"So. Here's how this will go. Tomorrow, I want my homework, all one hundred percent correct. And you're going to remember your place, and you're going to go shopping with me after school. You're not going to ditch me, you're going to shut your phone off, and everything is going to go back to how it is supposed to be."

Supposed to be...

Hanii forgave her after Sabrina had snapped at her. Ladybug and Chat Noir checked on her on their phones. She'd cried on one's shoulder while the other and rubbed her back. All three of them had smiled at her, talked to her like she was worth something.

Sabrina could barely hear Chloé over the sound of her own heart. She could hear it pounding in her ears, loud and incessant. Her throat ran dry, her fingers gripping her phone tight enough to turn the knuckles white.

"Okay?"

"Ngh..." Sabrina struggled to speak.

_"Okay?"_

"...no."

She actually heard the sharp intake of breath on the other end. Her heart seemed to have skipped a beat to enable her to hear it.

"What did you just say?"

"I...I said...no..." She sat up straighter, staring ahead at nothing.

_"Sabrina Raincomprix-"_

"I – I don't want to your homework anymore, o-or what you just said!" Sabrina blurted out, feeling sick to her stomach. But she had to get this out. "I w-want to keep my phone on, a-and wear my new blue romper to school, and – and I want to see my other friends!"

"You don't have any-"

"I don't want to do this, Chloé, I'm sorry!" Sabrina cried out, voice shaking. Before she could do anything dramatic, like start crying or throw up, she hit the 'call end' button and dropped the phone onto her pillow, breathing hard.

Hanii flew up to nuzzle her cheek. "Are you okay?" she whispered.

"I- I don't know..."

"You want to call Ladybug or Chat Noir? They might still be awake."

"I...I told Chloé no..."

Hanii smiled. "You sure did."

"She...she was really angry and...I told her no..."

"Yes! You did splendidly!"

Sabrina didn't feel splendid. She felt her limbs weaken, sagging a bit on her bed. "What'll I do about school tomorrow?! We sit next to each-"

XY blared, and Chloé's number showed up on the caller ID.

Sabrina frantically hit 'deny,' her stomach starting to do somersaults.

There was a second-long pause.

XY blared again. Chloé's name and number appeared again.

Hands shaking, Sabrina turned her phone off altogether and shoved it under her pillow. And there it was silent.

She got little sleep the rest of the night. She and Hanii stayed awake, Sabrina staring in fear at her pillow, as if she expected Chloé to crawl out of the phone.


	9. Immortals

If Sabrina'd had her way, she wouldn't go to school at all that morning.

She blinked tiredly, rubbing her eyes as the sun rose, sending warm gold light into her room. A nice view and lighting, but she couldn't even enjoy it. 

Her neck hurt from lack of rest, and her upper back ached from her slumping over and occasionally nodding off instead of getting proper sleep. And to top it off, her stomach was still turning over from what she'd done the previous night. 

“ _I don't want to do this, Chloé, I'm sorry!”_

She'd told Chloé no. 

She'd told her _no._  

She'd _never_ done that. _Never._

She sighed, staring at the phone she'd eventually gotten the courage to pull from under her pillow. Chloé was going to _kill_ her.

Eventually, she got off her bed and made her way to the bathroom to wash up. If she didn't go to school, it'd only make things _worse_ – then Chloé would _know_ she was avoiding her, and she'd have hell to pay.

It was better to suffer the smaller amount, she thought as she scrubbed her face.

...still, she realized, lowering the towel slightly and staring at her reflection. (Her dad was right, her eyes really were sparkling now, despite the shadows under them.) Still, to tell her _no_ and to know she was truly no longer going to do her homework for her, at least for a starter...actually felt pretty good.

Not that she wanted to do it _again_ any time soon, of course but...

Maybe since she said it at all, things would change today? Like...now that Chloé knew she could say no, she'd go easier on her?

No, no, that only happened on TV or in books, where things were much simpler.

Sabrina groaned in frustration and threw her hand towel back down on the counter. This wasn't a good way to start her morning at _all._ Why couldn't today be a weekend? Then she'd be able to stay at home and think about it instead of pretending things were normal while her heart was pounding twice as hard as it should.

“Sabrina?” came Hanii's voice, catching her attention. The over-sized bee floated behind her, eyes slightly downturned. “Are you all right?”

“I'm fine, Hanii,” Sabrina said after a moment. “I'm...I'm fine. I'll be okay.”

“You know...if you don't want to go to school today--”

“That will make things worse.” It was funny how she'd just been thinking of that, actually. Sabrina walked back to her room and started to change. “Maybe...maybe I could just not speak to her,” she muttered half to herself. “She can't say anything when class is going on, and if I run as soon as we're dismissed...”

“You could sit somewhere else?” Hanii offered gently.

Sabrina just shook her head as she slipped on her shoes. “We've sat in the same places since school started. I'd have to ask Mme Bustier to move, and there's not a lot of seats left.” She paused, tilting her head thoughtfully. “And I can't ask someone to switch seats with me. Just because I don't want to deal with Chloé doesn't mean I should force someone else to.”

Her stomach turned just saying Chloé's name, just remembering she had to sit next to her all day.

Not in a 'that Chloé disgusts me' kind of way, but...In a dread kind of way. In a 'this is bad' kind of way.

Like the feeling one gets when the phone rings, and it's the principal asking to speak to your parents.

Alright, maybe not the best analogy, but it was...hard for Sabrina to explain completely.

“I'll be okay,” she told herself as she spritzed Pierre for the day. “Maybe it won't be so bad.”

“Well, remember you have me with you,” Hanii said, tucking herself into Sabrina's bag as the girl picked it up. “If you need a break to talk to someone, I'm right here – and if you want to leave class--”

“I can't do that!”

“You could pretend you're about to be sick.”

“Hanii, are you suggesting I _lie_ and skip school?!” Despite herself, Sabrina smiled, feeling a tiny weight lift off her chest. She chuckled, gently stroking the top of Hanii's head. “I appreciate the offer...but no, I could never do that. I'll just have to go in and see what happens.”

“I'd say 'hopefully nothing,' but I saw how that girl is,” Hanii said, nestling deeper into the bag.

Sabrina didn't have a response to that. She privately agreed with Hanii, but she couldn't very well _say_ so.

And...well, it was like she was thinking, maybe she could just run really fast and avoid too much of an explosion. Maybe she could stay in a crowded area - yes, Chloé would still be angry and would come after her, but it’d be much less scary with other people around. Even if none of them were her actual _friends._

(She suddenly remembered them asking about her in class. How many people had crowded around when she’d fainted to see if she was okay.

Maybe they weren’t friends, but...they did clearly care about her wellbeing.)

Sabrina paused at her bedroom door and turned her phone on, bracing herself for an onslaught of texts and missed calls.

Oddly enough, none came.

So the walk from her room to the apartment door was silent – her dad didn't seem to be home at all, probably working late or early. That was fine, Sabrina was used to that.

What she wasn't used to was the silence that reigned when she stepped out the front door and into the morning sunlight, which was still casting a glittering, golden glow over everything. She had to take a moment to pause and let her eyes adjust; she wasn’t used to the day looking quite like _this,_ either. 

She tried to brush it off. 

_Tried_ to _._ As she walked alone and quiet, she couldn’t help but focus on it.

Mornings were relatively more peaceful than say, afternoon or nighttime, sure. But they were never so...

Silent.

Especially in _Paris._

She glanced around as she went, noticing how there were much fewer people out this morning. Maybe there was a sale going on somewhere? An...early morning sale?

Usually she could see her classmates going to school in their own ways, or on other streets, but this time there was _nobody._

Her hand moved to the comb in her hair as she quickened her pace.

_Maybe I'm just early,_ she told herself. _I did stay up practically all night. Maybe I misread my clock..._

Her heart started to pound a bit as she turned a corner – once again, seeing no one. Not even the pigeons that liked to flock around. She couldn't even _hear_ the pigeons, now that she realized it. _Maybe I'm just_ paranoid... Sabrina shuddered and rubbed her arms a bit. _It's leftover nerves from talking to Chloé, nothing is out of the ordinary here..._

“Sabrina?” Hanii whispered, peering out of the back with anxious eyes.

“Shh!” Sabrina gently pushed her back in as quickly as she could. She wasn't sure why exactly – but she had the strangest feeling that Hanii should stay hidden, that she should get out of here as quickly as--

Up ahead, she saw someone walking across the street – a young woman dressed up for work. Judging by the black and white uniform, she worked at the hotel. Sabrina didn’t recognize her, though, so she must have been new.

But still. Another person!

Sabrina's relief was palpable. _Just my imagination after all,_ she told herself, slowing her pace to a more leisurely one as she neared the employee.

“Good morning!” she said with a smile.

The woman turned to look at her, and Sabrina froze.

She had black compound eyes.

“ _You!”_ she hissed, a hand lashing out to grab Sabrina by the wrist. Sabrina cried out in both shock and pain; the woman's grip was deceptively strong. “You're the one!”

“Wha--?!” Sabrina cried, trying to pull her arm free.

The woman only gripped her tighter. “Her Highness has been demanding to see you – _everyone, I found her! I found the traitor!”_ When the woman yelled her last two sentences, there was an odd humming in the air, a vibration felt in Sabrina's chest. The woman's voice, now that she heard it a bit more, had a buzzing undertone to it, as well.

But the sound and the vibration wasn't the only thing that scared her.

_Traitor? But what did I do to her?!_

And then she heard heavy, running footfalls. Lots of them. Coming towards her from all directions.

The woman began to pull her down the street, still gripping her wrist. “By order of the princess--"

“Let me go!” Sabrina screamed, pulling harder.

“--you are under arrest for high treason--”

“ _Let me go!”_ she screamed again. Quickly remembering one of the things her father had taught her as a child, she suddenly swung her arm in a wide circle, forcing the woman to let go of her wrist.

Then she turned and ran in a random direction, her bag banging heavily against her hip as she did.

She could still hear the voices behind her, fading but not faded enough.

“ _She's getting away!”_

“ _After her!”_

“ _Seizzzzze that criminal!”_

And suddenly, the city was full of noise again. A loud chorus of buzzes filled the air around her, feeling like they were inside her very brain.

It was as if a switch had been flipped. Buzzing and shouting filled the air, people were appearing as if from nowhere to try to chase her down. The golden light shone brighter than ever, dazzling her eyes and making it harder to see.

But she still ran for her life, heart in her throat, desperate to escape the buzzing crowds.

She turned erratically a few times, trying to keep her path random, harder for anyone to chase her. But she soon realized it did nothing; when she glanced up to see what street she was on, her blood froze at the sight of more hotel employees and even guests climbing on the sides of buildings, slipping out of windows, crawling until they reached the ground to jump safely. All while buzzing loudly, fixing black insectoid eyes upon her.

She spared a brief glance up at some of the windows as she turned and ran again, desperate to escape. Some of them were covered in a strange, wax-like substance – giant honeycombs with amber glass inside. They were covering the windows and doors, keeping people trapped.

No one was going to save her, and there was nowhere for her to hide.

 

“Sabrina!” Hanii cried from her still-closed bag. “It's an Akuma! It's just an Akuma – once Ladybug purifies it--”

“I know but--!” Sabrina skidded to a stop in the middle of the sidewalk, spotting several other people a few buildings down. They were nervously looking out of their home, tentatively stepping outside, hands over their ears. There door hadn't been boarded up yet. Relief briefly overcoming her terror, Sabrina started towards them, a plea for help just on her lips--

The buzzing grew louder. “ _Over there! Seizzzze her!_ ”

No. No, she couldn't put others in danger! Not when it was _her_ these people wanted!

Sabrina spared a second to glance over her shoulder, just to see what direction her pursuers were coming from – there were three unfamiliar people, coming from her right. She ran left, quickly turning the first corner she came across.

Even over the sound of her heavy heartbeats, and her rapid breathing, she could hear some of her pursuers speaking to the people she'd almost ran to.

“Citizzzens! Have any of you seen a red-haired girl with glasses and an ugly sweater vest?”

“N-No, we haven't...what's wrong with your eyes...?”

“Guard, I believe these citizzzens are lying.”

“We're not!"

“You're just trying to cover for her! You're obstructing justice – anyone harboring or helping the traitor to the crown will be charged and punished for high treason along with her!”

“H-Hey--!” 

“We don't know anything!”

“Lock them up, and find the girl!”

Sabrina, safely hidden in an alley, felt her heart skip a beat in horror. She'd paid attention in class, she knew what the punishment for high treason was during the Old Regime. And it sickened and terrified her to think of anyone – especially people who had nothing to do with whatever was happening – facing it.

The penalty was being drawn and quartered.

This...this wouldn't happen now, would it? I-It was just an Akuma, she gathered that much, she knew that much, an Akuma wouldn't have the power to--!

But look at what her father had been capable of. What all of them had been capable of.

She _couldn't_ let it happen!

“I've got to--!” she began, starting forward, beginning to open her bag.

“There you are!” Hands gripped her shoulders and pulled her back.

_No!_ Sabrina thought, in both desperation and terror. Adrenaline spiking, she began to fight back, opening her mouth to scream, one hand going to open her bag – Hanii could at least escape, Hanii could make it out alive--

“Sabrina! Sabrina, it's me!” The hands turned her around, and Sabrina found herself staring into the blue eyes of Ladybug. She gaped, taken aback by the look Ladybug was giving her – wide-eyed, horrified concern. For her _personally._

It was definitely not the time for it, but... For Ladybug to be worried about _her,_ not Honeycomb but _her,_ even though she was Chloé's friend--

\--no, not anymore--

\--yes?--

\--it felt... 

“Chat, Chat I found her,” Ladybug was saying into her communicator. “She's okay – I'm going to get her somewhere safe!"

“Wait!” Sabrina suddenly cried out, unwittingly catching the attention of the small group of 'guards.' “The people – over there, they--” 

Ladybug cursed under her breath as she saw them moving towards them, inhumanly fast. With barely a warning, she pulled Sabrina closer, and used her yo-yo to zip away, high above the roofs.

“ _Waaaaiiiit!”_ Sabrina shrieked, right below Ladybug's ear. _“What about--?!”_

“We've already tried to break the beeswax,” Ladybug interrupted. “It won't come apart. And Chat can't use Cataclysm on _all_ of them, there's too many and not enough time.” She did sound truly regretful. “We'll have to get the Akuma first – the people will be fine, they're just stuck inside their houses. The ones the Akuma's controlling haven't touched anyone.”

_Because they're waiting for_ _ **me**_ **,** Sabrina realized with a heavy heart.

Moments later, Ladybug took her through an open window. Sabrina recognized this place immediately: school.

“Okay, I don't know where you live, and this is the safest place I can think of – _clearly_ the hotel's out,” the red-clad hero was saying, leading her down the (mercifully empty) hall. She grabbed a chair on her way down, and then they reached the bathroom.

Of course it would be this way, Sabrina thought.

“Stay. Here,” Ladybug said firmly. Pressing the chair onto Sabrina, she added “Shut the door and bar it with this. Do _not_ open it for anyone, no matter what they say. There's no other way they'll get in, they don't know you're here, you'll be safe.”

“Ladybug--” Sabrina began, brows knitted.

“ _Stay. Here.”_ Ladybug pointed downward to emphasize her point, the look in her eye plainly saying there was to be no arguments.

(Chloé had that look sometimes. When Ladybug looked at her like that, it was familiar but at the same time nothing like Chloé's look.)

“Lady--!” Sabrina tried again. To say what, she didn't know. But Ladybug was already out the door, closing it behind her.

Sabrina stood in the middle of the bathroom for a few minutes, numbly gripping the chair as the faint sound of buzzing still filled the air. Her bag popped open and Hanii flew out, hovering anxiously at Sabrina's ear. “Sabrina!” she began. “Sabrina, we can't just stay here and--”

“I know. I don't intend to.”

Hanii stopped, blinking. “Sabrina?”

Sabrina's grip on the chair was firm, her knuckles white. Despite the fear in her eyes, the paleness of her skin, she was looking ahead resolutely. “I know,” she repeated. “Paris is in trouble, people are being unjustly locked up in their own homes, and...and if something isn't done, people are going to get hurt!” The people who had been accused of sheltering her suddenly came to mind. How many others were there? How many others could there be?

If she had the power to help stop this, even just a _tiny bit of it,_ there was no way she was going to hide somewhere and wait for someone else to do it.

She had to do something.

Sabrina closed her eyes, lifted her head, and took a deep breath. Her arms trembled, but she stayed strong. When she opened her eyes, there was a glassy look to them, a tinge of fear (no, something bigger than that), but she didn't hesitate or change her mind. Not once.

“Hanii.” she began, turning to look at her kwami.

Hanii looked back, a proud, subtle smile on her face. “Yes.”

“ _Transform Me!”_

* * *

 

Honeycomb ran across rooftops, leaping from one to the other with ease. A few of the buzzing bug-eyed people had spotted her, and tried to catch up with her, but she was too quick in this form. And while they could crawl on buildings, it seemed they couldn't leap or fly. Fortunate.

Or lucky.

She heard people calling out to her as she moved past windows, shouting her name, asking if she was going to help save them, where were the other two--?

“I'm catching up to them!” she yelled over her shoulder, voice strong.

(It did a good job of hiding how her heart was pounding, and not because of exertion.)

“Just hold on, we'll stop this!” 

She wasn't running randomly anymore. She had a clear goal in mind, she had a pretty good idea she knew where the Akuma was hiding. Her hands grabbed her communicator-wand, her finger swiping the screen open.

“Honeycomb!” came Chat's voice.

“Hi, I'm near the Bourgeois hotel!” Wait, could you say 'hi' during a call in this situation. “Where are you two?”

“Heading the same direction.” Ladybug's voice sounded close. “I think you're right behind us.”

_Considering we both came from school..._ Honeycomb thought to herself. But out loud she said “Did you notice the uniforms on some of them?”

“Yeah. That's why we're heading to the hotel. I don't know if the Akuma's moved or not, but it's probably where they _started.”_

Honeycomb saw two familiar figures, one red and one black, up ahead of her. “I see you! Be right there!” Her hexagon beeped as she slid it closed again, replacing it on her waist.

The hotel still looked like its normal self. Honeycomb wasn't sure if she was relieved or not. But it did mean one thing, at least. They wouldn't have to try to break down any honey-and-amber windows.

Honeycomb landed on the roof a few paces behind Ladybug and Chat Noir. “Why are we up here?”

“Front door's guarded,” Chat said, pointing over the edge of the roof. Sure enough, once Honeycomb walked to look down, she could see a line of five people standing in front of the double-doors. “It's like Buckingham Palace – they're not even moving.”

That wasn't so unusual, she thought. The doorman barely moved either.

On the other hand, that just confirmed it. The Akuma _was_ inside.

“I know where there's an unlocked window – it's _never_ locked, to make it easier to let fresh air in, and it's too high for someone to break in,” Honeycomb offered. She saw the questioning look in Ladybug's eyes, but ignored it. “Follow me!”

* * *

 

The window opened effortlessly, without so much as a squeak. The staff kept it well-oiled – at Chloé's request, of course. Who else's would it be?

Honeycomb slipped through first, lightly landing on the clean floor and moving out of the way for the others. The inside of the hotel was just as quiet as the streets had been earlier. Before everything went terribly wrong.

Was it because everyone else was outside? Looking for her?

Ladybug led the way, the trio's footsteps barely-audible. Element of surprise, of course, right...

Honeycomb wasn't thinking about that. She was staring at the floor, at her reflection in it. At the reflection's comb.

Of course...Of course there'd only be one reason everyone was out to look for her.

“Let's go this way,” Honeycomb said suddenly, pointing down a familiar hall. More questioning looks. She smiled weakly, ignoring how her heart was hammering. “Trust me. I am _positive_ I know who it is!” As if Ladybug hadn't already figured it out. She was brilliant, of course she did--

\--but Honeycomb knew where Chloé's room was by heart. As far as she knew, Ladybug had only found it once.

She heard them talking to each other as they hurried up the stairs. Maybe one of them called out to _her,_ but she still wasn't listening.

Hanii's presence suddenly felt a little uneasy.

* * *

 

Honeycomb wasted no time in opening Chloé's door when they reached it. “Chloé!” she called out, half-hoping she was wrong, that she was _way_ off that the Ladybug and Chat Noir would have a good laugh at her later--

“ _Who dares enter my chambers?”_

Of course she couldn't be _completely_ lucky, could she?

“Chloé?” she heard behind her as she marched into the room.

Chloé didn't respond, but held herself tall as she stood in front of her window, the sunlight silhouetting her. She regarded them all coldly, like they were literal insects below her feet. The buzzing noise just outside of the window was strong and insistent, but she didn't seem bothered by it. In fact...it seemed to be coming from _her,_ somehow.

And she looked, for lack of a better description, like an over-decorated princess.

Her hair was piled into a high ponytail, the voluminous waves falling softly over her shoulders. A glittering gold domino mask was over her eyes, accented with pearls.

The dress was gold and black, a bit like a bee. The shoulders looked like they'd come straight from 1980's American fashion, the black gloves beneath so long it was hard to tell if they were really gloves or just fingered sleeves. The gold skirt, fabric gathered and secured with a large gold rose every six inches or so, stopped above the knee to show Chloé's black-clad legs and golden high-heels. Sheer, sparkling fabric formed a curtain around the side and backs of her legs from the skirt's hem to the floor, and the rest of the dress was peppered with lace, sparkle, or pearls.

But it was definitely her. Even if her ponytail _didn't_ have that familiar bee-tiara comb in it, the look in her icy blue eyes would have clued anyone in.

Her eyes narrowed slightly, and she flicked open a gold and black fan, ignorant of how Honeycomb was staring at her.

(Honeycomb didn't know what expressions her allies were making. She imagined they didn't look nearly as upset as her.)

“Ah. My loyal soldiers,” Chloé began. “Have you come to report for duty? To declare your seizure of the traitor to the crown?"

“Oh my God...” Ladybug muttered in exasperation.

“Chloé--” Honeycomb began, voice trembling.

“ _I am not Chloé, and even if I were, you would not address me so familiarly!”_ Chloé snapped, somehow still maintaining the cool tone. “My name is Princesse Abeille, and _I want that traitor found. Traitors_ and liars are _not_ tolerated in my kingdom.”

“Your _kingdom?!”_ Ladybug snapped.

The buzzing grew louder. Honeycomb's hands twitched.

“My. _Kingdom.”_ Princesse Abeille's voice was a hiss. “ _I_ rule this land, _I_ command this castle, _you and everyone in here exist to serve_ _ **me!”**_

The buzzing was louder now. Honeycomb could see the shadowed outlines of people on the window.

“If you do not comply...” Princesse Abeille began, her fan closing once again, arms crossing over her chest. “Then you will be considered traitors as well. _Guards!”_ Her sudden shriek had a definite buzzing tone to it, and suddenly glass was shattering.

The windows exploded into the room. Honeycomb screamed and lifted her arms to cover her face – she thought she heard the others scream too, but maybe that was just her projecting.

The buzzing was all around her now, worming into her skull, making her teeth vibrate. Brainwashed employees and guests were swarming them, crowding around them, the room was suddenly far, far too hot--

She couldn't stand this anymore--

“ _The heroes of Paris are an obstruction to justice and must be charged with high treason--”_

Honeycomb heard Ladybug yelling her name, over the sound of buzzing and of her yo-yo's whirring. She was fending some of the 'soldiers' off, but Honeycomb wasn't focused on that, she was too busy trying to control her breathing, trying to stay calm and--

“ _\--and will suffer the same as the traitor herself!”_

No.

“ _You. Have. Friends.”_

“ _Good job!”_

No. No, not them, too, no!

The people of Paris were in trouble. Her _friends_ were in trouble. And here she was just--

_No!_

“ _Arrest them immedia--”_

“ ** _Hey!”_**

Princess Abeille stopped speaking, turning to glare at Honeycomb and snapping her fingers. The people pushing against her immediately withdrew, buzzing quietly and staring at Honeycomb intently.

Honeycomb's heart was pounding so hard she could barely hear anything else. She dug in her heels, glaring up at Princesse Abeille, trying to conceal how much her limbs were shaking. _“Princess Abeille!”_ she shouted again, as if the first time wasn't enough. “You're doing all of this 'cause you want Sabrina, right? That's all you want?!”

“ _Sabrina...?”_ Hanii's voice sounded small, and not just because of the pounding in Honeycomb's ears.

A short distance away, she heard Ladybug's incredulous cry of “Honeycomb, what are you _doing_?!”

Honeycomb ignored her, hands shaking even further, her heart in her throat. “You want her so badly?”

A choked gasp sounded in her head. _“Sabrina – Sabrina, stop--!”_

“ _Honeycomb,_ _ **no--!”**_ Chat sounded horrified. And disgusted.

Hanii was screaming. “ _Sabrina – Sabrina, no, no,_ _ **please**_ _, I can't help you if you--!”_

It was too late.

In one fluid motion, Honeycomb lifted a hand to her temple, pulled, and flung.

Even above the buzzing, the sound of metal landing and skittering across the floor was clearly audible, only stopping when it bumped against Ladybug's foot.

Chest heaving, fists clenched, tears of anger and terror and desperation in her eyes as she glared up at the Akuma, Sabrina Raincomprix stood where Honeycomb had been not one moment ago.

Sabrina drew a deep, shaky breath. “I'm _right here,_ Chloé.”


	10. Stronger

Her head hurt.

That was the first thing she noticed, her senses fuzzy and her brain not sure which way was up or down.

The other details came slowly. Like the fact her eyes were shut, and she was no longer standing.

Then she realized her face was awkwardly smushed to a cold, smooth floor, her glasses askew and digging painfully into the bridge of her nose. Her hair was looser than it was when she wore Hanii's comb, and she realized she could feel it fanned lightly over her cheek.

Most of the head pain was coming from the back of her skull and one of her temples. It felt a lot like the way it did when she'd fainted in class...

Then she realized that the last thing she knew, she'd been throwing the comb away.

Her eyes snapped open.

She was no longer in Princesse Abeille's room. She was in...where was this? Sabrina squinted to see through the darkness, and slowly the shapes and shadows began to take actual form.

It looked like a basement, or perhaps a utility room, that had been cleaned out and – she blinked again and noted the gold, waxy bars in front of herself – converted into a prison.

Or a dungeon.

What was she doing there? Was Princesse Abeille here, too? Sabrina couldn't hear or see her...

And how had she even gotten down here...?

Shifting slightly on the floor, careful not to let whoever might be near that she was awake, Sabrina shut her eyes tight and tried to remember.

Staring up at Princesse Abeille, her chest horribly tight and her eyes stinging.

 

* * *

 

_Time seemed to halt. Yet at the same time, so much seemed to be happening._

_She could hear a faint "What...?" to the side, but didn't know nor care who it'd come from._

_The buzzing dimmed slightly, the army holding themselves tense and ready to move again, the room still stuffy and warm._

_Princesse Abeille was staring at her, her expression going through several emotions. First there was shock; staring at Sabrina with wide, disbelieving eyes. Then there was confusion, her lip curling slightly as she shook her head. Then that morphed into anger, her brows furrowing, eyes burning. Then that progressed into rage. Her lips curled further, exposing her teeth. Her eyes blazed in cold fire._

_And then she roared out:_ **_"_ _TRAITOR!_ _"_ **

_The army moved again, fast. Sabrina was briefly aware of arms grabbing and pushing at her. Falling backwards as Princesse Abeille forgot herself and charged towards her with a shriek._

_Hanii screamed. Two more voices yelled her name as her head hit the floor. She briefly saw two pairs of legs, one black and the other mostly red, trying to cut through the crowd surrounding her._

" _Sabrina!"_

_And then nothing._

 

* * *

 

Oh. Oh, that was right.

She was locked up now, awaiting execution, wasn't she?

She wasn't entirely sure Princesse Abeille could _do_ that, but...

But Akuma were capable of a lot. Hawk Moth was capable of a lot.

Sabrina, no longer caring if someone knew she was awake or not, slowly picked herself up and leaned against the cold wall at her back. Now that her eyes had properly adjusted to the dark, she could see that the "dungeon" was less a dungeon and really more of a utility room after all. The only obvious change from what it had once been was the line of bars that stretched from floor to ceiling, forming a semi-circle around her. The spaces were too small for her to slip between, and if they were made of the same substance as the stuff covering the windows, there'd be no way she could break it.

Powers or not.

And she was not powerful at that moment, Sabrina realized as she lifted a hand to her temple, feeling the empty space where the comb had been.

...the comb. The comb was gone.

And, Sabrina finally realized with a jolt, so was Hanii.

Just to make sure, she frantically tugged on her collar, half-hoping the kwami would fly out of it. Nothing.

She wasn't in her pockets. She wasn't in her hair.

She was _gone._

Sabrina...didn't know how to feel about that. Hanii had once said that since she hadn't disappeared when Sabrina had yelled at her, Sabrina clearly didn't want her _gone._ But Sabrina didn't want her gone now, or a few minutes ago, either.

Maybe she'd stayed inside the comb, Sabrina thought. Maybe...maybe she was still safe. Maybe she'd picked up on Sabrina's desperation to protect _everyone_ with her action and stayed hidden.

She hoped that was the case.

And come to think of it, it was rather amazing how _calm_ she felt about all of this, Sabrina realized, frowning slightly. Maybe she had run out of fear. Maybe she was still woozy from hitting her head. Maybe she knew, deep down, that Ladybug and Chat Noir would fix everything – either before or after Princesse Abeille was done with her, she wasn't sure, but it would happen.

Or maybe, she thought, finally considering that odd boiling sensation in her gut, she'd just had enough of being afraid? Or it didn't matter what happened to her, so long as the city was safe and Hawk Moth didn't get the Miraculous? As long as her friends were safe?

Yes, she thought to herself as the door opened, letting light into the room, that must be it.

 

* * *

 

Hanii, on the other hand, was not _nearly_ so calm.

" _Let me go!"_ she buzzed angrily, struggling against the fingers that desperately held onto her. " _Let me go, let me_ _ **go** , __she_ _ **needs** __me! My bee_ ** _needs me!"_**

"Miss Kwami, just-"

The 'Miss Kwami' part only made it worse. Sabrina had called her that once. Sabrina with her eyes teary and full of fear and hope at the same time, her hands trembling with desire to take up Hanii's offer and fear of rejection all at once. Sabrina, whom she had seen slowly blossoming, slowly becoming happy. In her mind's eye she could just see her, see how natural and easy her smiles had started to look, how her eyes had become brighter.

Sabrina who made her sugar petals.

Sabrina who had blankets that smelled like vanilla and honey from the laundry soap, Sabrina who had a pet cactus, Sabrina who worked so hard and expected, and received, so little in return. Sabrina who wasn't just her new bee, but her friend. Her 'human-daughter.'

Sabrina who'd thrown her comb at Ladybug, not because she no longer wanted it or felt unworthy, but because she wanted to _protect._

Sabrina, whom Hanii had failed.

"-calm down-"

" _You do not tell me to calm down!"_ Hanii screeched, whirling around to face her captor. The green eyes she met were wide and startled, but she didn't care. Her little body was shaking slightly as she shouted, voice hitching. _"Sabrina's_ _ **gone**! __It's my fault! It's my fault, if I'd just – if I had told her to stay safe, stay hidden, this would never have happened! If I was a better kwami I could have protected her, I could have told her to not take the comb out, I could have – I could have done something, I could have saved her!"_

She quieted slightly, tiny hands covering her face as most of the fight seemed to drain out of her.

Ladybug reached out for her, and Hanii seemed to collapse into her palms. She still covered her face, but now instead of shouting, she was simply sobbing, tiny and soft.

"She was...she was so happy, you know..." Hanii whispered. "She was _so happy_ to be with you two- a-and not because you were heroes, or famous but – but you were her friends... You _cared_ about her, just like I did – she was so happy, I really saw her getting better. H-Her eyes _were_ sparkling, you know?! Sh-she was _smiling_ more! Real smiles! She was getting so happy, and then – It's my fault, I told her she should stand up to Chloé, I smiled and I cheered for her when she yelled at her over the phone last night-!"

If Hanii were looking, she would have seen Ladybug's brows lift in surprise.

"I should have told her to stay safe. It's my job to take care of her, and I failed her!"

She'd failed her twice, in rapid succession. She'd failed her when Sabrina had removed the comb, and she'd failed her again when everything was lost in a mob of buzzing people, intense heat, and shattering glass. Too fast for any of them to react. She'd failed her when she'd tried to fly back to her, but was held at bay by the sea of people. When the room finally quieted and emptied, and they saw Sabrina had vanished along with the others.

"She's gone..." Hanii whispered. "My bee – my _girl_ is gone and I don't know where she is."

"I think I might."

Hanii's head lifted, tear-stained eyes opened to see Ladybug looking pensive. The red and black hero was looking out the shattered window, towards-

"My Lady?"

"The school."

"What?"

"Think about it! Chloé – Princesse Abeille is a princess. A ruling regent. Her castle is this hotel – it's one of the places she's most powerful. And where _else_ does she have the most power?"

Hanii looked back and forth between the heroes as comprehension dawned in their eyes.

" _School."_

"Right," Ladybug nodded, eyes grim and mouth tight. "Mis – Hanii, we're going to get Sabrina back. We're going to stop this." She looked down at the Bee Comb that she held in her hands. "...but we also need you to do us a favor. Can you...?"

 

* * *

 

She had to give Chloé some credit.

Even as an Akuma, or maybe especially as an Akuma; when she wanted something, when she wanted to go all out? She went _all out._

Sabrina's hands fidgeted as she stood there alongside her, on the roof of the school. More specifically, on the way-too-high scaffold on the roof of the school. Like the bars that'd been around her before, it was yellow and clearly made of wax, but still strong enough to hold both of their weight.

The wind whipped Sabrina's hair, made her eyes burn and stung her cheeks. Her wrists felt heavy, trapped in more of that waxy substance – a cross between a block and over-sized handcuffs trapped her hands, which were held in front of herself. Princesse Abeille had put them on her personally, with a wave of her hand, when she'd come to fetch Sabrina from her prison.

Apparently, she wanted this to be even _more_ personal, so didn't even bother to send a guard to do it.

Speaking of guards, the crowd twenty feet below the scaffold was comprised entirely of the hive army Princesse Abeille had created. They all held themselves still, staring up at their princess and her prisoner, waiting. Their quieter, monotonous buzz filled the air, providing white noise to what would otherwise be a dead silent scene.

Apparently Princesse Abeille did not recall the punishment for high treason very well, as there were no swords for the act. There was, however, a guillotine.

It should have been threatening, but honestly Sabrina found it nearly ridiculous.

Princesse Abeille really _was_ going all-out.

Princesse Abeille stood in front of Sabrina, facing the crowd. Her arms were folded at her chest, and she stared off into the distance at nothing. Her eyes were hard, stony, and her jaw was clenched. She seemed to be thinking of what to say.

She had to be. Chloé would never be silent, not during something like this.

A purple light flashed around her eyes, and Princesse Abeille snarled under her breath. "Not _yet,"_ she hissed. "I _need this!"_ Sabrina watched in morbid curiosity, her arms shifting slightly, as Princesse Abeille tilted her head to the side as if listening. "You'll get them _later,_ okay? Just let me-!"

She suddenly recoiled, tensing up slightly as if she'd been struck and then held in a vice grip. "Alright – _alright!_ I'll do – _let me do this first!"_

The light disappeared, and Princesse Abeille bodily turned towards Sabrina, straightening her back and making her face a mask of composure. Sabrina's brows lowered as she looked back at Princesse Abeille, still fidgeting.

"Sabrina Raincomprix," Princesse Abeille said, "Do you fully understand why you are here?"

"No," Sabrina said, inwardly proud of how even her voice was.

_Hanii was gone. Hanii was safe. None of the guards had a comb in their hands, Hanii might have gotten away with Ladybug and Chat Noir._

"You stand before your princess today as a traitor to her crown." Though Princesse Abeille didn't raise her voice, it still carried loudly. "As a traitor to _me."_

"How did I betray you?" The words came out before Sabrina could stop them. The boiling feeling intensified as she moved her hands faster.

Princesse Abeille's eyes lit up, a little smile on her face. "You _really_ don't know?" she asked. She took a step forward, hands on her hips. "Let me make it clear, then!"

_The comb was gone. Hanii was safe. Her friends had escaped. They would be fine._

"I have been _nothing_ but kind and generous," Princesse Abeille began. She put a hand on Sabrina's shoulder and began walking with her, as if this were a friendly stroll down the hallway. The illusion was ruined, of course, by Princesse Abeille's stronger-than-necessary grip on her shoulder, and the fact they were moving for the guillotine.

"I was the only one who was willing to befriend you. I was willing to _remain_ your friend, even when you messed up. I gave you nice things. I let you eat with me. I let you visit me and accompany me wherever I went. If it weren't for me, you would _never_ have been able to ride in a limousine, go to those fancy boutiques, or even set foot into my kingdom."

Sabrina's jaw tightened.

"Yet you never," Princesse Abeille squeezed Sabrina's shoulder briefly before whirling around, looking her dead in the eye. "You _never_ seemed to _appreciate my friendship."_

That boiling, tightening feeling was steadily getting worse.

"I went out of my way to help you. I didn't _have_ to forgive you for humiliating me in front of Jagged Stone. I didn't _have_ to let you be my friend again. I didn't _have_ to continue being your friend, no matter how embarrassing you were. I didn't have to do any of those nice things I did for you. But I did anyway. And you never showed me any gratitude, you never once _appreciated_ how many chances I gave you. I could have cut you loose at any time, you know. I could have never let you back in my life. I could have ruined your life. I could have done so much, and yet I never did.

"And did you ever, _ever,_ appreciate it, or thank me, or show any _real gratitude_ about being my friend? Never."

No. No, that didn't sound right.

Sabrina tried to quiet that thought, staring up at Princesse Abeille's comb.

Princesse Abeille didn't seem to notice, or maybe she didn't care.

"I was the _only_ person at school who cared about you – I was probably the only one who cared about you at _all!"_

The tower that night. Crying into Ladybug's shoulder. Chat Noir touching her on the back to calm her down. Both of them texting her.

Holding Hanii and talking to her at night.

Her dad, making sure she was well. Thinking of calling in just to make sure she was going to be okay.

Her classmates. Her classmates, who barely interacted with her at all and who only knew her as Chloé's sidekick, had helped her when she'd fainted and asked if she was all right when she came back to school.

_The only person who cared about her?_

_The_ _**only** _ _person who would ever be her friend?_

"And all I asked for in return...was very little. Precious little. All I asked was for you to remember your place, and remember that everything you were, you owed to _me._ And you did _not_ keep your end of the bargain."

_Bargain...?_

Sabrina's wrists were shaking. Princesse Abeille's comb was blurring and doubling before her stinging eyes.

No, no, no, she would not cry, she would not _cry..._

"You betrayed me, Sabrina! You broke your promises to me, you bailed on me when I could have used you-"

_For homework, to carry her bags, to sit and smile and listen to anything she said without protest, to do what she was told-_

"-you tried to upstage me-"

_She'd only wanted to look pretty, she just wanted one nice thing for herself-_

"-made _horrible, multiple_ mistakes on my homework and made my grades fall when I know you can do better, I'm positive you did it on purpose-"

 _Why couldn't Chloé do it herself, huh?_ **_Why couldn't she do it on her own, why did she have to make Sabrina do everything for her?_ **

"-you overstepped your boundaries, you crossed several lines. You act like you don't want to be my friend anymore." They were at the guillotine. Princesse Abeille smiled sweetly. Sabrina's stomach and chest felt hot, her vision tinted red. "Well. The good news is, now you don't have to be. It was good while it lasted, but traitors must receive their just."

Princesse Abeille's hand gripped Sabrina's shoulder.

She pushed Sabrina to the guillotine, her other hand on the back of her head to lower her into position.

Sabrina bent at the waist-

-and suddenly swung around, her arms straight out in front of her.

**WHAM!**

Princesse Abeille screeched, more fury than pain, and fell backwards.

A wax block fell to the wooden floor, Sabrina's wrists red and raw from all the twisting and pulling she'd been doing to free herself. " _You're. Not. My._ ** _Friend!"_**

The crowd surged forward, climbing up over each other to reach the scaffold, their buzzing intensifying so Sabrina could barely her herself over them. But with all of them trying to climb up such a tiny space, they ended up trying to climb over each other, pushing their neighbors down, shaking the scaffold... it would not be much, but it bought Sabrina some precious seconds instead of being swarmed instantly.

Princesse Abeille recovered and shot up, screaming as she grabbed at Sabrina's shoulders. The scaffold kept shaking, making the girls unsteady. Princesse Abeille was shaking her, pushing her backwards so she'd fall back towards the guillotine.

Sabrina wasn't letting her. Not this easily.

" _You're not my friend – you were never my friend!"_ she shouted, feeling like a dam had burst in her chest. She dug in her heels, fighting back. Her hands moved to Princesse Abeille's arms, shoulders, trying to reach further. Her vision tinted red again, her throat burned, but she still screamed. Screamed over the loud buzzing, the faint voices she was hearing. " _You never treated me like your friend, you were never nice to me, you made me do anything you wanted, you never cared about me, you hurt me, you threatened me, you're trying to get me killed – none of the other Akumas tried to kill their_ _best **friends,**_ _Chlo-"_

"It's Princesse Abeille!" Purple flashed around her eyes again.

**"You're no princess, Chloé! You're a spoiled brat who never thinks of anyone but herself or even cared about anyone but herself-"**

She was shaking worse than ever. Was it the scaffold or her? She honestly didn't know anymore – she barely noticed anything. She barely noticed or cared when the buzzing grew louder and right behind her, when someone put too-hot hands on her shoulders to try to pull her away from Chloé.

_("Sabrina!")_

**"You're a spoiled, awful girl and I never did anything bad to you I tried to be whatever you wanted me to and you never-"**

(" _Sabrina, don't move, the-!")_

_("What's she saying?!")_

**"And I hated hated HATED every minute of my life because of you and friends don't treat each other this way! I was AFRAID of you, I hated myself, I was cruel to my classmates – my other friends – I hated myself I felt like _dirt-"_**

Fingers were clawing into her sleeves. Hot tears were rushing down her face, she could feel herself choking on her words and held-back sobs, her chest was too tight, everything was too hot and the scaffold was shaking and coming apart-

_("Sabrina, hang on, we're coming!")_

There was a bright flash in the corner of her eye, like when her father adjusted his car mirror. She felt most of the hands pull away from her, heard people screaming in pain and surprise. Sabrina shut one eye automatically, Princesse Abeille threw her arms over her eyes.

" _You shouldn't have complained!"_ the Akuma screamed. _"I was the best thing to ever happen to yo-"_

Sabrina's breathing was rough, ragged. " _No-"_

(Hanii, floating before her with a kind smile.

Her father kissing her forehead before work.

Rose offering her an orange juice, checking on her when she was ready to puke.)

Her arm shot forward, upward towards Princesse Abeille's hair. "- _you-"_

(Classmates asking if she was all right.

Ladybug comforting her, reassuring her it was okay. Listening to her.

Chat Noir actually asking if she was being _hurt._

The both of them never breaking their promise, treating her like a normal girl, like a _friend-)_

Her fingers – shaking and slightly bloody at the tips – wrapped around Princesse Abeille's hair comb and yanked, hard. **_"-WEREN'T, CHLOÉ! YOU WERE THE WORST!"_**

" _(SABRINA!")_

Sabrina's head whipped around. Through blurry, shaking vision she saw familiar blurs of red and black.

Her arm lifted over her head, comb in hand. **_"Ladybuuuuuug!"_** she screamed, pitching her arm forward.

The bee-tiara comb sailed into a waiting hand, and smashed into pieces on the ground a split-second later.

Princesse Abeille screamed again, but it didn't sound real anymore.

Sabrina felt herself being pushed, or maybe thrown, sideways. She didn't care anymore – all she felt was some grim satisfaction at what she'd done, at the sound of metal breaking.

There was a far-away yell, a familiar red glow-

" _Sabrina, jump over here!"_

Time briefly slowed down as Sabrina tore her distant gaze away from the tiny ladybugs, off to the side and down below. She was near the edge of the scaffold, which was quickly being removed. The tiny bugs were lowering Chloé to safety but-

A familiar black figure with wide green eyes stood below, arms out. _"Over here, I'll catch you!"_

She didn't jump.

She _leaped._

 

* * *

 

She wondered if maybe she'd blacked out for a second. It wouldn't surprise her, honestly.

But the last thing she recalled, she was leaping away from the scaffold – from _Chloé –_ like her life still depended on it. And then the next thing she knew, everything was over.

The sun was shining benignly, as if this were a normal day.

The wax and gold were all gone.

The tiny ladybugs were gone, having healed everything.

A large group of hotel staff and guests were groaning, sitting up and rubbing their heads. Some asked their neighbors what had happened, they didn't remember _anything..._

Chloé sat up, a hand pressed to her temple. A few feet away from her sat her new comb, good as new.

And Sabrina...Sabrina blinked, and realized she was in two people's arms.

Ladybug looked into her eyes, concern and mild horror all over her face. "Are you all right?"

It hit her all at once. How tight her chest was. The burning in her throat, how she'd screamed it raw a few seconds ago. Her hands and fingers – no longer injured but still trembling from what she'd done. What Princesse Abeille had been about to do. What Chloé had said, what she'd said back. Hanii. Her friends, coming for her.

How scared, angry, sad she was. How she'd screamed and cried at the same time as she yelled at the Akuma.

And how, even with five minutes left – or was it four now? - her _friends_ were still here, holding onto her and keeping her upright, holding her as if they didn't want to let her go.

She couldn't take it anymore.

Sabrina shut her eyes, felt her legs give out, and cried.

Ten feet away from the rest of the people, Ladybug and Chat Noir held onto her, keeping her upright and petting her hair, rubbing her back.

"It's okay, Sabrina," Chat Noir whispered, too low for anyone but the other two girls to hear. "It's okay... _We've got you."_


	11. I Learned From You

“ _Sabrina!”_

“D-Dad--!”

Roger ran to meet them when they stepped outside, breathing heavy as if he'd run the entire way over. The moment he spotted the trio, he seemed to gain a second wind, bursting forward and taking Sabrina into his arms, lifting her up off the ground.

Ladybug (still beeping) and Chat Noir let him take her, stepping back and then...she didn't see, but they likely left. Sabrina barely noticed much of anything except for her father hugging her tightly, slowly swinging back and forth, crying faintly into her hair. Sabrina hugged him so tightly her arms went numb, her entire body shaking with sobs that hadn't stopped since they'd _started._

(What were their faces like, she would later wonder. Were they as concerned and horrified as they'd been on the roof, or were they embarrassed by her? She'd heard the _“What?”_ when she threw the comb, were they upset it was _her_ this whole time?)

The trip home was a blur after that. She vaguely knew her father was guiding her to the car, maneuvering through the small crowd. People who'd come out as soon as they'd been freed, she realized.

She checked her phone in the car, looking at the messages without truly reading them. Her inbox had exploded, full of messages from her dad. The first few were warning her of an Akuma and asking her to text him back, tell him she was safe. She swiped and they slowly grew more frantic, telling her to call if she could and text if she couldn't. Telling her to send a _letter_ , just one, or even a blank text, to let him know she was okay. More panic. Assurances he'd be there as soon as he could, that he was trying to “get out,” to hang on, he'd be there, he'd be _right_ there!...

Somehow he'd known. Even far from the school, even without knowing for _sure_ she'd been taken, he'd known.

She began to tune her father back in, slowly coming back to reality. He was speaking quickly, his hands gripping the steering wheel too tight as he filled her in on what she'd missed.

Most of the city would probably be disappointed that the news hadn't been able to record the actual confrontation, but Sabrina considered it lucky. This way nobody would get to see her making a fool of herself on TV – live or otherwise.

Especially Chloé. Chloé wouldn't have to see what she'd done or hear what she'd said, and she wouldn't be able to say anything to Sabrina later.

It sounded – well, from what she could really _hear_ , it sounded – like her dad didn't know the full story of what'd happened either. He knew she was up close to the Akuma, he knew she'd been “trapped,” but everything else...

In some ways it felt like Ladybug's luck-based powers weren't _just_ applied in battle.

Sabrina did not go to school that day. Her father attributed it to her feeling shaken from the fact that her best friend had been the Akuma, and the fact she'd been up close and personal to it.

She didn't want to tell him the truth. Any of it.

Not yet.

* * *

Chaotic as her morning had been, the afternoon was rather uneventful, even if Sabrina did spend most of it jumping at every sound, half-expecting it to be Chloé, or another Akuma, or even Hawk Moth himself. Her father had taken the day off, citing “family emergency,” and they'd sat down on the couch with the TV all day. Sabrina had a blanket around her shoulders, and a mug of tea between her hands.

It kinda tasted like honey...

A lock of Sabrina's hair fell over her face, and she idly tucked it back behind her ear. She almost reached up to adjust her comb, when she realized it was no longer there.

She was suddenly aware of the lack of a weight on her neck and shoulder, too.

It didn't feel right.

* * *

There was a story on the Akuma attack later, but all that cameras had been able to catch were the hive army, and a few golden-tinged shots as they tried to leave their vans and buildings. Sabrina was a little surprised, but still had to credit Princesse Abeille's efficiency. In the early hours of dawn, she'd managed to lock-down most of the city before anyone knew what was happening.

Roger had wisely changed the channel when it was clear what they were seeing. There was a cartoon on another channel; they watched that instead.

Sabrina felt herself calming down as the day dragged on. She had her father, she was safe in her apartment, she had hot tea, she wasn't going to school...She did glance at her phone once, just to make sure it was on. Chloé would normally have texted her by now; she probably went to school later and wondered where Sabrina was.

There was no text. Sabrina didn't look at her phone anymore after that, focusing instead on the TV.

Next to her, her dad was tense and stiff. He didn't seem _angry_ or _afraid,_ just edgy. Sabrina couldn't blame him, of course, he'd been like this when she'd become Vanisher and disappeared for a few days, too, but...

Somehow it seemed different than the last time.

A little later, she found out why. “Sabrina, pumpkin?” he asked in the early afternoon, taking his gaze away from the television for the hundredth time to look at his daughter. “Are you all right?”

“Of course!” she made herself say, smiling brightly. “Why?”

Her father exhaled through his nostrils, shoulders slumping. He glanced at the screen – there was a cereal commercial playing, with a cartoon bee espousing the wonders of honey-nut O's.

“Is it because of Princesse Abeille?” Sabrina pressed on, smiling. “I'm okay. I wasn't hurt, she just yelled at me a little bit is all, I think Chloé just had a really bad--”

“It's not...It's not that, honey,” her father interrupted. “I know it sounds trivial, but after seeing how bright you've been for the past few weeks, I can't help but notice...” His expression softened more than it already had. “Sweetheart, you look _heartbroken_ right now. What's wrong?”

“...I'm just tired. Can I go to my room?”

* * *

Sabrina blinked and checked the clock on her phone. Everyone would be getting out of school right about now. She might have dozed off at some point. Last thing she knew was that she'd immediately shut her bedroom door, and laid down on top of her bed, so she _must_ have fallen asleep.

With a quiet sigh, she set her phone back down and turned her head on her pillow to stare into her room.

The deafening silence, the lack of the tiniest weight on her pillow next to her head, the lack of conversation and quiet laughter, was going to take getting used to again.

_(“Sabrina! Oh, I was_ _**hoping** _ _it would be you...”)_

Sabrina blinked rapidly as she remembered the day she'd met Hanii. How nervous and unsure and upset she'd been...and how kind the kwami had been. Hanii had stayed with her, even when Sabrina lost her temper, and understood why she'd done so. She'd forgiven her, without Sabrina needing to do her any favors or give her any gifts. Hanii had been her second true friend.

...no, she'd been her _first_ true friend. Chloé was no friend to her – she knew that now.

And now her real best friend was gone...

She wondered if the comb had magically been returned to...to wherever it came from. Or maybe Ladybug had kept it. Maybe _she'd_ be the one to find the next wielder.

That thought made a lump rise in Sabrina's throat, and she buried her face in her pillow.

She hoped they knew about sugared petals. Hanii had been really taken with them.

_Bzzz_

Sabrina's head shot up, eyes wide. Buzzing?! Princesse Abeille was back!?

Oh, no, her phone's screen was lighting up. Sabrina blinked in shock at the familiar contact name on the screen. Why was...? She hesitantly picked up her phone and swiped, opening the text.

And what she saw made her heart leap into her throat.

_Where do you live?_

Part of her wanted to ignore it. Part of her wanted to ask 'Why?'

But another part of her, the part that had had enough of sitting in her room alone, the part that remembered being in her friends' arms, wanted to reply properly. So with nervous fingers, she typed in her address, double-checking for typos before hitting 'send.'

Her phone buzzed again almost immediately.

_Be there in two minutes._

_Get an overnight bag, and play along._

Sabrina stared at the phone blankly, trying to process that. Get an overnight bag...? Like when she was going to sleep over at Chloé's? Okay, but if Ladybug was texting her and telling her to get an overnight bag together, then--

\--then wait. Ladybug texted that to her. _Ladybug_ told her to get an _overnight bag._

_She was going to stay at Ladybug's._

What.

“Play along:” Ladybug was going to say something to convince her dad to let Sabrina go out with her. But that didn't make any sense, this was _Ladybug_ of all people and yeah, sometimes her dad had gone against her but in his defense there was _overwhelming evidence_ that something was rotten, so--

But he trusted her! And he'd have no reason to not let Sabrina go out with one of the people who'd gotten her away from the Akuma so--

\--unless it wouldn't be _Ladybug_ seeing her dad.

\--unless it was--

_What._

Sabrina jumped, suddenly realizing she'd lost a precious minute of time. Frantically, her mind still reeling, she leaped away from her bed and stumbled towards the closet. Quickly she plucked her old knapsack from the floor and crammed a change of clothes inside. Stumbling to the dresser, she grabbed her pajamas and a change of socks. Hairbrush, hairbrush, she needed her hairbrush oh there it was, toothbrush! She had to get her toothbrush, she couldn't borrow someone else's, that was gross--

Should she grab some books – no, no, this wasn't a _for fun_ thing, this was probably serious, considering who was coming, she really shouldn't--

She straightened up, and then her eyes caught sight of the brooch on top of her shelves. The rose one, the one Chloé'd given her. Sabrina stared at it, suddenly calmed, and not in a necessarily nice way.

She'd not put it on that morning...Chloé would have been angry about their phone conversation, she had reasoned, so it would have been best to leave it. And here it was, still here, out in the open.

Unconsciously, Sabrina walked over to her shelves and lifted the brooch. It felt heavier than it normally did, the cool metal felt unnatural against her fingers. She rubbed it between her thumb and forefinger, trying to warm it a bit; it didn't help at all.

She stared a moment longer, her chest feeling heavy and light at the same time.

Someone knocked on the front door.

Sabrina shrieked, quickly jamming the brooch inside her bag.

“I'll get it!” Roger shouted from the living room. A few seconds passed (Sabrina nervously approached her still-closed door, shakily slipping her bag onto her back), and then: “Oh, you're...”

“Hi, Officer Raincomprix!” came a familiar, chipper voice. “Is Sabrina ready?”

“Ready?”

“Yeah, we got partnered for a project--” _Ladybug was in her class?_ “--and we wanted to work on it together. But we figured it'd be easier to make it an overnight thing, so...”

“Well...” Sabrina could just see her dad's furrowed brow. “I don't know if you've heard, but she got caught in the crossfire of an Akuma today and if she's not up for it, I don't think...”

_Play along. Play along. Play along._

“I can go!” Sabrina cried out, opening her door and jogging out. She put on her best smile, adjusting the straps of her knapsack as she slowed her pace towards the entrance. “I'm okay now, I was just tired. It's not the first Akuma I've dealt with, there's been worse, you know!”

“Sabrina, are you--?” her dad began.

“I'm fine, Dad, I promise! And I _really_ want to get this project done...” She was deliberately avoiding looking at the door, focusing instead of her father and his anxious expression. “I'll be okay, I promise. I called and told her to come, anyway,” she threw in for good measure.

Roger looked like he wanted to say something, but something made him pause. He paused for a moment, frowning, and finally nodded. “You're _sure,”_ he said, clearly not asking.

“Yeah.”

Another pause. “Okay.” Roger stepped away from the door to briefly, albeit tightly, hug Sabrina. “Call me if something happens,” he muttered before pulling away and stepping back.

“I will,” Sabrina said, as she finally turned to the door, taking a few steps forward.

And then she stumbled, her breath catching.

That was Marinette Dupain-Cheng in her doorway.

_**What.** _

 

* * *

Sabrina could only gape wordlessly as Ladybug – _Marinette –_ smiled at her, like this was a normal study session/sleepover, this was a normal friend picking up a friend, this was normal...

But then the door clicked shut behind Sabrina and the smile vanished. Sabrina tensed up, stomach churning for half a second before Marinette whispered “Don't say anything til we get to my house.”

Which, hey, was fine by Sabrina! She didn't think she'd be able to formulate words for a while anyway.

She saw Marinette start to reach for her hand, or maybe her wrist, before she caught herself and pulled back. Her hands instead rested on her pink bag, one on the strap and the other tightly holding it shut. “Stay close to me,” she whispered, speed-walking away.

Sabrina, of course, followed, mind working a mile a minute.

As they hurried to the familiar bakery, Sabrina tried to keep calm. Went over everything in her head.

Okay. Okay, that'd been Ladybug's contact number that had popped up. Ladybug had texted her, told her to play along.

Marinette had shown up at the door. Ergo, Marinette was Ladybug.

_Marinette._ Was _Ladybug._

So _Marinette_ was the one Chloé was cosplaying as and fan-ing over. So _Ladybug_ was the girl Sabrina'd helped belittle. So _Marinette_ had saved both Chloé and herself despite how they'd treated her. So _Ladybug_ was who Sabrina had yelled at that one time.

_Dear God, she'd suggested_ _**Ladybug** _ _was digging through garbage for clothes._

Sabrina gripped her knapsack straps tighter and began wishing for an Akuma to just show up and kidnap her or something. She'd gladly be stuck in Horrificator's goop again or something. Permanently. That'd be nice. Yup.

Her eyes flicked down to Ladybug's – Marinette's – bag. She was still holding it tight, and Sabrina thought she saw it jump a little.

She almost didn't want to know what might be in there.

They'd been walking for quite a while, and finally the silence was eating at her. She had to say _something._ “Uh, Marin--”

“Hold that thought.” Marinette's words were quick, but not snappish. She just sounded anxious, hurried. The bakery came into view ahead of them, and Marinette quickened her pace. “C'mon, hurry. My parents ask, we're working on something for history.”

Sabrina nodded mutely, her mouth going dry.

_She'd snuck into_ _**Ladybug's** _ _room to steal_ _**something of Ladybug's!** _

Mercifully – luckily? - Marinette's parents were busy when they came in. All they had to endure was a brief introduction, Sabrina hastily nodding in greeting, and yeah she was sleeping over tonight and they'd be going to school together early tomorrow now they had to get upstairs and work see you at dinner.

It didn't help Sabrina's nerves as they headed upstairs, though, lifting the trapdoor.

Sabrina was allowed up first. She stood anxiously, shifting her weight from foot to foot as she tried to think of something to say. Tried to think of anything other than the fact Marinette was Ladybug and was likely furious at her, or immensely disappointed, or--

The door shut, and Marinette's fingers began working her bag's clasp. “Okay, first off--”

Oh God here it was.

“ _Someone_ wants to see you.”

The bag opened, and something shot out. Sabrina felt something smack into her chest so hard she stumbled backwards with a short cry, letting go of her own bag. The weight moved up to her throat, and Sabrina had the brief thought of a strangling butterfly.

Then she realized the tiny weight wasn't strangling, but rather _hugging._ And shaking a little.

And talking, in a very familiar voice.

“ _Sabrina! Sabrina, oh, my brave, brave little bee!”_

“Hanii...?” Sabrina whispered, eyes going wide.

Hanii released Sabrina's neck and floated backwards in front of her face, arms tensed at her sides and eyes tearing up, expression torn between anger and elation. “Don't you _ever_ do something so foolish like that again, do you hear me?! You've no idea how _worried_ I was, and when you weren't at school, and Ladybug and Tikki _told me_ you were probably still at home because if you'd been kidnapped again we'd all know, but--” The tenseness drained out of her and she zipped forward again, this time to hug Sabrina's chest. “Oh, I'm so glad you're _alright....”_

Sabrina's trembling hands slowly went up to Hanii, her eyes still wide and quickly filling with tears. Hanii...Hanii was here, Hanii was still... With a choked sob, Sabrina rested her hands over Hanii in a hug, pressing her against herself. Her eyes closed and tears ran down her cheeks, her legs slowly gave out and she sank to the floor. “Hanii...Oh, Ha-Hanii...” she wept, unable to say anything else.

“ _Promise_ you won't do something like that again!”

“I – I promise, I--” Sabrina's eyes opened as she realized what she was saying. “H-Huh? B-But I--”

Marinette knelt down in front of her, a little red kwami floating by her head. She held her fist out towards Sabrina, the back of her hand facing up, a lot like a fist bump. Sabrina blinked again, shakily holding her hand out...

...and Marinette pressed the Bee Comb into Sabrina's palm. “I _think_ this belongs to you,” she said, with a slight quirk of her lips.

Sabrina looked from the comb to Marinette and back again. Once again, her mind was scrambling to process what was going on. Hanii was still here, she was being given the comb back. She was being given the comb _back._ “But – But I threw it away!”

“ _No,_ you threw it _at me,_ ” Marinette corrected. “Well, I mean – you didn't mean to throw it at me, I guess, but you didn't _give it up,_ not really! Hanii was still there when you took it out!” She shrugged lightly, as if that fact alone explained everything.

“But – But I revealed myself!”

“Yeah. To us,” Marinette said calmly.

“And Chloé and all those people!”

“They won't remember. The cameras didn't catch you either, we checked.”

“Then – Then Hawk Moth probably knows--”

“Why do you think I'm not letting you be alone tonight? I mean, your dad'd be there, but...” Marinette trailed off, but Sabrina knew what she was getting at anyway.

It'd be better for their peace of mind if Sabrina were with one of the heroes, at least tonight. “And besides, we'll think of something for that one. Trust me.”

Sabrina rubbed her fingers over the comb's teeth, looking away from Marinette and towards the red kwami. Said kwami smiled and gave her a little wave. “It's nice to meet you,” she said, in a higher voice than Hanii's, “though I wish it'd been under better circumstances.” Her tone wasn't scolding at all; she actually sounded like she found it at least a little humorous.

Nonetheless, Sabrina looked away for a second. “Sorry,” she mumbled.

“There's nothing to be--”

“I'm so sorry!” she repeated, turning to Marinette so fast her neck hurt. She felt Hanii fluttering at her chest in mild alarm, and pressed her hand tighter over her in response. “For – for everything Chloé and me – I mean, I had no idea who you were – it's no excuse, though, it's still mean and horrible and you're so much bigger a person than me because you _still_ went out and saved us those times and _either way_ I'm sorry-- And-and I'm not just saying this because you're Ladybug, I should've apologized a long time ago but I just – I know you weren't expecting Honeycomb to be _me_ of all people and I bet you wish it were someone else but either way I'm sorry for how I've treated you and--”

“Sabrina, _breathe!”_ three voices cried at once.

Okay, that was almost funny.

That alone was enough to make Sabrina stop talking. A short, barking laugh escaped her, then she took a deep breath. Hanii floated away from her chest to hover before her, so she could actually _see_ her.

Hanii's smile was a little long-suffering, but affectionate. “She did this once before, too,” she said. “The day she had to leave the classroom, after Honeycomb was sighted?”

“I _was wondering_ if that was why you left,” Marinette admitted, a wry smile on her face.

Sabrina let herself laugh again, just a little, and wiped her eyes again. “I'm sorry,” she said. “For everything--”

“It's okay,” Marinette gently cut her off. She scooted a little closer, placing a friendly hand on Sabrina's own. “You've nothing to be sorry for. And before you say it, Chloé was _way_ worse than you,” she said as Sabrina's mouth opened to protest. “And we're _not_ upset Honeycomb turned out to be you.”

She paused for a second, glancing sidelong at her kwami. “Honestly, after I thought about it...it kinda made a lot sense, in retrospect. I mean...the edginess, the eagerness to please, the story you told us on the Eiffel Tower...” At that part, her voice dropped solemnly. “I _really_ should have figured it out, just from _that._ And I'm sorry I didn't, and that you had to go through that for so long.”

“It's okay,” Sabrina said. Her voice was starting to quaver a bit. “It's not your fault. Hey, you _did_ stand up for me once, and I—”

“ _It's not your fault either.”_ Marinette's voice was firm, her eyes stern as she looked at the redhead. “No matter _what_ happened back then.”

“We forgive you. We're not upset,” the red kwami said.

“Tikki's right.”

Sabrina just stared, dumbfounded. The fight drained out of her, her shoulders slowly relaxing. She looked back down at the comb in her hands. Those words had done something, she figured. She couldn't think of anything else to say, to argue.

Wait. There was still this matter.

“I threw the comb. I don't deserve it anymore, don't I?”

“Sabrina, _I_ tried to pass my earrings to someone else,” Marinette said.

Sabrina looked up again, blinking.

Marinette's expression was still serious. “You _do_ deserve that comb. You _deserve_ to be Honeycomb, you _deserve_ Hanii, and you _deserve_ to have better friends.”

“But...but I don't have any other friends. You heard what I said to Chloé – even if she doesn't remember, I can't go back to her. I can't--”

“Don't be silly, you don't have to!” the red kwami – Tikki – said gently. “You didn't forget so soon, did you?”

“Huh?”

Marinette reached into Sabrina's bag and produced her phone. With a few swipes and flicks, she accessed the text messages and scrolled til she found what she was looking for. Turning it towards Sabrina again, she revealed what it was.

_Remember: you. Have. Friends._

“Honeycomb has Chat and me,” Marinette said gently. “So now you do, too. You've also got me _outside_ the mask, and Tikki.”

“And me!” Hanii offered.

“And Hanii. You mustn't forget this,” Tikki said.

Sabrina just stared, her eyes starting to sting again.

Marinette just smiled reassuringly, and took the comb from Sabrina's hands. With expertise, she pushed Sabrina's hair back a bit, and slipped in the comb.

“You're our friend now, Sabrina. And when you're ready, I'll invite you and Alya _both_ somewhere so you can get to know her, too.”

Sabrina said nothing, just staring.

Hanii pressed her tiny hands to Sabrina's own, squeezing lightly.

Sabrina closed her eyes, biting her lower lip. Then she flung herself forward, throwing her arms around Marinette's neck. She felt the other girl hug her back, squeezing tight.

The rest of the night played out like...well, like a regular sleepover.

And yet at the same time, nothing like ones Sabrina'd been to, at Chloé's.

They did a little homework, if only so they could look busy when the trapdoor opened and Marinette's mother appeared offering sweets. Sabrina got to see some of Marinette's current fashion projects, _really_ look at them. They sat on the floor and just talked, rambling about anything they could think of. As if they wanted a jump start on this new level of friendship.

A few times, Sabrina checked her phone for texts from Chloé. Nothing.

Sometimes she'd cry. Not just about the text, but sharing this or that story of Chloé. Because she remembered the confrontation on the roof. Because things were suddenly changing and she wasn't sure how to handle it.

Every time she'd cry, the other three would move close, offering comfort or a cookie or a tissue. And the small gestures would make Sabrina cry even more.

But that just made the moments afterward even better, when she was cried out and ready to laugh again.

 

* * *

She had only one nightmare that night.

Or maybe several in rapid succession, and they simply melted into one.

She was invisible, hearing a deep voice telling her she was as she should be. The voice heightened in pitch til it matched Chloé's. No one could see or hear her, no matter how she screamed for help.

She dreamed of dark purple and black butterflies beating their wings against her, drowning out her screams. She dreamed of being sealed in wax. She dreamed of guillotines and masked teenagers hating her.

She dreamed of being a butterfly or a bee or both, of being crushed in someone's palm. That someone kept flickering between Chloé and Hawk Moth.

She woke up with a scream, sweat soaking her pajamas. In a flash, her three friends were by her side.

Ten minutes later, she made a decision.

 

* * *

Sabrina slowed as they approached the school steps, vaguely realizing Marinette was slowing down as well. She stared up at the door, the thing in her hand heavy and almost burning. She said nothing. She did not move.

Marinette stepped closer, tentatively resting a hand on Sabrina's shoulder. “Hey,” she said softly. “You okay?”

She nodded slowly. “Uh-huh...”

“...do you want to be alone for a second?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I just...I just want to prepare myself.”

Marinette's hand squeezed her shoulder. “I'll be waiting on the other side.” With that, she headed up the steps, leaving Sabrina alone.

Sabrina was grateful for that. She needed to be alone, just for a bit.

Hanii stayed in her school bag, silently peeking up at her.

Sabrina just stared at the school doors a bit, inhaling deeply.

She'd often walked up these stairs with Chloé. For years, she'd done that. For years, she'd sat next to her, stood near her in pictures, copied notes and did two sets of homework.

She could almost see her younger self now, hurrying after Chloé and hoping she'd stay in a good mood, hoping she could quell any irritation the girl would have that day.

It wouldn't be happening anymore.

She'd be going to school alone now. The entire way.

And she'd meet other people at these stairs. She'd walk with others to class, she'd only be doing one person's homework every night, she'd be...

Her chest tightened like a vise, then suddenly released. Sabrina let out a whoosh of air she didn't even realize she'd been holding, staggering slightly as if she'd been struck a bit.

She'd be _free..._

She'd have friends. _Real_ friends...

She'd be...

She felt tears start to slide down her cheeks, and hastily ducked her head to wipe at her eyes. Her comb kept her hair from falling over her face, its weight once again a subtle reminder of what she'd gained. She felt her bag move a little; Hanii must have done that. Another little reminder.

She could hear and sense more of classmates approaching the building. She should go inside now. She was ready.

Sabrina lifted her head again, tears dried, and squared her shoulders. The thing in her hand was still heavy, but it didn't feel like it was eating away at her palm anymore. Well. This was it. Here she went.

“...and – oh, hang on a sec. Hey, Sabrina!”

She heard quick footfalls as someone ran up behind her. Sabrina turned, recognition clicking in her head as she came face-to-face with--

“Adrien?” she asked quietly, shuffling her feet. “I'm sorry, but if you want Chloé, she a-and I are no longer--”

“No, not...” he began, frowning. He looked a little troubled for a moment, then lowered his voice and leaned in a little bit. “Hey, listen,” he whispered in a rush, as if he didn't want anyone to hear. “What you did yesterday, in the hotel and on the roof? That was really brave...we're proud of you, 'kay?”

Sabrina stared, eyes slowly going wide. The hotel and the roof...but the only people who knew about those things were--

“Cha--?”

He just smiled, and turned to rush into the school.

Sabrina stood a moment longer, blinking in disbelief. Then, hardly believing herself, she laughed, covering her mouth with her free hand. She'd...she'd deal with this information later.

 

* * *

Marinette was waiting just on the other side of the school doors, just as she'd said. She and Sabrina walked to class, Alya joining them seconds into their walk. Sabrina saw her look at Marinette and raise an eyebrow, but Marinette only shook her head. This could come later, too.

They entered the classroom, and Sabrina's heart stopped for a second. Chloé was already in her seat, her chin resting on her palm, a bored look on her face. At least, that's how it would seem at first glance. A second look revealed that her eyes kept flickering towards the door, as if... Sure enough, she straightened when she laid eyes on Sabrina. Her gaze briefly roamed to Marinette and Alya, her lip curled slightly as she saw Marinette squeeze Sabrina's shoulder again, not moving from the door. Just standing there, waiting.

Sabrina swallowed, lifted her chin, and strode into the room. Chloé began to scoot over as Sabrina approached--

\--then froze, looking in confusion as Sabrina placed her fist on the desk.

_Swallow. Breathe._

Sabrina's hand opened, and when she pulled back, the brooch was sitting on top of the desk, next to Chloé. “Keep this,” Sabrina said, praising herself on how steady her voice was despite her nerves. She flashed Chloé a tiny smile, ignoring the sudden wave of nausea and how her heart pounded. Before Chloé could give some kind of remark, Sabrina turned and walked up the steps towards the back of the class.

“Hey, uh, Ivan?” she asked sheepishly. “Can I sit here?”

Ivan glanced at her, obviously surprised. But he must have seen something in her eyes, because the next moment he nodded, grabbed his bag, and scooted over to make space. Murmuring a thank-you, Sabrina eased herself into her new seat, lowering her bag to the floor.

Facing the front, she saw Chloé shooting a confused glare at her. She saw Marinette briefly smile at her, giving the barest of nods as she and Alya took their own seats. Adrien briefly looked over his shoulder at her.

Sabrina felt a huge weight rise off of her. The sound of the bell ringing covered up her shaky, exhaling laugh.

 

* * *

It was midnight, bright golden lights below Honeycomb as she ran and leaped from the rooftops. She loved these nights, feeling free, feeling the cool night air fill her lungs. She threw her arms out, laughing excitedly. Maybe there'd be an Akuma tonight and maybe there wouldn't, but for the moment, she'd just enjoy the night.

“Hey! Honeybee, slow down!”

Honeycomb skidded to a stop, twirling around on the toes of one foot to look back at her allies.

Friends.

“I'd ask what's gotten into you,” Ladybug quipped, a hand on her hip. “But...”

“I'm just--” Honeycomb laughed, hugging herself. “I'm just--”

“Don't worry,” Chat cut her off, green eyes gleaming a bit. “We know.”

They did, didn't they? Honeycomb grinned brightly, nodding once.

“Well, let's keep moving,” Ladybug laughed. “The worker bee's gotta burn all that energy somehow.”

The three of them sped off again, Honeycomb almost shrieking with laughter. She allowed the others to pull ahead of her, just for a second. They leaped to the next roof, she followed them a second later--

\--and time seemed to slow down. As she flew through the air, she happened to glance down and sidelong.

She locked eyes with the old man she'd met weeks ago. Although they were so far away, he seemed to look directly at her, to _see_ her.

Even though it was only half a second in reality, it felt like a solid thirty. She saw the man looking at her....

...and he smiled, nodding his head once.

Honeycomb smiled back, even if she wasn't entirely sure he could see it.

Her feet touched down on the other roof, and she kept running forward, to catch up with her friends.

 

* * *

“ _Well done, Hanii, Sabrina..._

_Well done.”_


End file.
